Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for December 2019
Brighton brought the curtain down on the decade with a packed December fixture list which encompassed six fixtures in the space of four hectic weeks.
That meant that plenty of players received game time as Graham Potter rotated his squad. It also led to a strange month in which the Albion veered from the sublime to the ridiculous with impressive speed.
A first ever win away at one of the big six was secured at Arsenal. That was then followed up by some shambolic defending in a 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Brighton battered Crystal Palace but only came away from Selhurst Park with a 1-1 draw for their efforts. Five days on from that impressive performance, the Albion delivered their worst showing of the season when Sheffield United left the Amex with a 1-0 win. Without VAR, it could have been 3-0.
Next was a trip to Tottenham Hotspur where a much improved display was delivered, only for some more questionable work in defence to gift Spurs a 2-1 win.
The month did end on a high note though with a first win in 12 years over Plucky Little Bournemouth and a first clean sheet since November.
Because of the frequency with which Potter has chopped and changed over the course of December, coming up with a shortlist for Player of the Month was always likely to be a challenge, even without such inconsistent performances.
As a result, we’ve gone for five men and one piece of technology. VAR may be the worst thing to have happened to football since that Diana Ross penalty during the 1994 World Cup opening ceremony, but in December it chalked off five goals that the Albion conceded and saved us four points along the way.
In fact, VAR coming to Brighton’s rescue was one of the only consistent features of a bizarre December in which you never quite knew which Albion team was going to turn up.
Yves Bissouma
It’s been a bit of a frustrating season so far for the midfielder who has struggled to nail down a starting spot following summer surgery on his shoulder. He was given a surprise start in place of the suspended Dale Stephens away at Crystal Palace and played superbly, including helping to tee up Neal Maupay’s goal with a brilliant cross field pass. His second appearance came in the win over Bournemouth with another all-action display.
Lewis Dunk
Missed the game at Spurs through illness and you can’t help but wonder whether Brighton might have taken something there had he been in the side in place of either Adam Webster or Shane Duffy. Another excellent month for the Albion captain, including helping his side to a point at Palace and then going viral afterwards for being caught on camera shouting “You jammy shite team” into the home dressing room at Selhurst.
Neal Maupay
In terms of goals scored, Maupay had his most productive month so far in a Brighton shirt. He scored in three consecutive games against Arsenal, Wolves and Palace, becoming only the second Albion player to do so in the Premier League after Glenn Murray. Endeared himself even further to the Brighton faithful by celebrating the goal at Selhurst wildly in front of the home support.
Aaron Mooy
An outstanding December from the Australian playmaker. He was the best player on the pitch against Arsenal and Bournemouth, ran the show at Spurs and notched his first goal for the Albion with a finish that Sky Sports described as “Dennis Bergkamp-esque” in the win over the Cherries. A joy to watch.
Davy Propper
Handsome Davy Propper continued his excellent form this season throughout December, even managing to score his first home goal in Brighton colours in the draw with Wolves. Okay, he did then gift the visitors a goal less than five minutes later, but that was the only black mark against his name in another fine month.
VAR
VAR has its critics and while it ruled out Dan Burn’s goal versus Bournemouth because the defender’s missing finger was a millimetre offside seven phases before he turned the ball home, it’s actually done more good than harm for Brighton in December. Five goals that the Albion have conceded have been ruled out by the video referee; one at Arsenal, two at home to Sheffield United, one at Spurs and one against Bournemouth. Without it, we could quite easily be sat here now with no wins to our name this month.
Poll closes at 8pm on Sunday 5th January
