Vote now for your January 2021 WAB Brighton Player of the Month
The last few WAB Player of the Month shortlists we have put together have been bloody hard work. October, November and December saw the Brighton win just one match out of 13 and you could count those performing consistently well on one hand… but Player of the Month for January 2021 is a different story.
Selecting just six players to vie for the crown was a task akin to selecting who is your favourite member of Little Mix. There could have been at least 10 different individuals in the running (for WAB January 2021 Brighton Player of the Month, not the Little Mix thing) after the Albion delivered eight points from five matches and progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Taking a look at the players who we had to omit from the shortlist tells you of the quality on offer. Tariq Lamptey’s injury troubles could have proven a disaster but Joel Veltman has been so good at right wing back that Lamptey’s absence is now merely considered an inconvenience. Veltman does not make the shortlist.
Yves Bissouma scored the Goal of the Season in the FA Cup win over Blackpool and has been on every shortlist so far this season, winning last month’s December award. He though sat out Manchester City away through suspension and was only on the bench for the win at The Leeds United so he misses out.
Like Bissouma, Solly March has been in the top six throughout the 2020-21 campaign. He claimed back-to-back Player of the Month awards in October and November and despite another month of consistently good performance, he does not make the shortlist. Two goals from Neal Maupay helped earn four of the Albion’s eight points but there is no place for him, either.
So who can you vote for? Here are the six men who we judged to have made the biggest contributions to an excellent January for Brighton & Hove Albion.
The candidates for WeAreBrighton.com January 2021 Brighton Player of the Month
Lewis Dunk
The Albion captain had easily his best month of the 2020-21 season in January. That outrageous last minute goal line block in the 0-0 draw with Fulham from Ruben Loftus-Cheek prevented an embarrassing home defeat and he performed similar heroics away at Newport County in the FA Cup when turning behind a Kevin Ellison drive in the final seconds of extra time. Proved his worth up the other end too with the equaliser against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Pascal Gross
No coincidence that once Graham Potter decided to introduce him back into the Premier League starting line up and not as a holding midfielder as he had in December’s debacle at Leicester City, Brighton’s form was much improved. Started the move which led to the winner at The Leeds United and assisted Leandro Trossard for the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win over Spurs, a match in which he became only the second Albion player to achieve a score of over nine in our WAB Player Ratings this season.
Alexis Mac Allister
The Albion have been patient with the young Argentinian playmaker in his first year in England and that is paying off handsomely now. January 2021 saw him establish himself as a first team regular for Brighton with a string of performances in which he glided around with the ball, picked out passes none of his teammates could dream of finding and was even willing to try things like shooting from distance. His role in the goal at The Leeds United was beautiful and summed up perfectly what he is all about.
Robert Sanchez
Whether or not you agree with the treatment dolled out to Maty Ryan in going from first choice to fourth and being told to find a new club almost overnight, what cannot be in doubt is that the Albion have looked much better defensively with Big Bob Sanchez between the posts. Equalled Ryan’s record of three Premier League clean sheets in a row in January and although he hardly had a thing to do in recording shutouts against The Leeds United and Fulham, his reaction save from Carlos Vinícius’ snapshot in the win over Spurs was world class.
Adam Webster
His best month in a Brighton shirt by some distance. Defended superbly throughout January with none of those funny moments that he has liked to throw in once every game in the past. He seems to be getting better and better on the ball with each passing week too, consistently stepping out of the backline and deep into opponents’ territory like a modern day Franz Beckenbauer. A joy to watch.
Ben White
When The Leeds United fans said that Ben White loved playing at Elland Road, they were not wrong. Gave his best performance in a Brighton shirt in central midfield against the club he spent last season on loan at before stepping back into the defence to help earn clean sheets against Fulham and Spurs. Like Webster, he too has enjoyed rampaging forward and he was only a smart Hugo Lloris save away from opening his Albion account when Tottenham came to town.
Loading ...Poll closes at 8pm on Sunday 7th February
