Albion Analytics alternative awards

These are a data-driven approach to crowning Brighton players in specific categories for 2023-24, beyond just straightforward goals/assist metrics.

Here are the five categories and the winners:

• Data darling (best underlying numbers): Jan Paul van Hecke
• Best under-23 (aged under 24 at end of season): Simon Adingra
• Signing of the season: Joao Pedro
• Best creator: Pascal Gross
• Best non-goalscorer: Billy Gilmour

Data darling (best underlying numbers): Jan Paul van Hecke

Lewis Dunk described Jan Paul van Hecke as having the “biggest improvement I’ve ever seen in a player” under former head coach Roberto De Zerbi. In his first full Premier League season Van Hecke ranked third for league minutes behind Dunk and Pascal Gross. While he may not lead any individual category outright, it is his unparalleled ability to put up impressive numbers in myriad defensive and attacking metrics that see him win this award.

Van Hecke ranked second for league tackles plus interceptions (77) as well as clearances (76), with almost identical numbers showing how he mixed a style of defending touch-tight with classic centre-back box defending. He was tied with Dunk for blocks (49), while only three Brighton players bettered his 66% aerial win rate.

On the ball, Van Hecke had the highest long-pass completion (73.6%) of any Brighton player to attempt 100 or more such passes. Four of the top eight instances for passes in a game by an under-23 Premier League player came from Van Hecke last season.

Best under-23: Simon Adingra

What a debut season for Simon Adingra. He missed the middle part of the campaign with a good excuse, shining in the late stages of AFCON as Ivory Coast won the tournament on home soil. He assisted both goals in the final.

Adingra (10; 7 goals, 3 assists) along with Joao Pedro (20) and Pascal Gross (18), was one of three Brighton players to reach double-digit goal involvements in all competitions. He became the ninth youngest scorer for Brighton in the Premier League with an opening-day goal against Luton Town.

Adingra’s direct attacking style, playing off either flank, was particularly exciting. He topped the Brighton charts for dribbles attempted (123) and completed (50) in the league, with 13 take-ons ending in shots also an Albion high — that final stat ranked him in the top 10 of all Premier League players.

His tendency to put in a defensive shift was noticeable too, ranking inside the top 25 per cent of attacking midfielders/wingers in Europe’s top-five leagues over the past year for (per 90) tackles, interceptions, blocks and clearances.

Signing of the season: Joao Pedro

Not a hard award to give out, really. Joao Pedro arrived in the summer from Watford as Albion’s record signing. For a club who had not seen a 20-goal striker since our Championship days, and the last players to hit double-digits were no longer at the club (Alexis Mac Allister, Neal Maupay, Glenn Murray), there was pressure.

Joao Pedro delivered. He hit 20 goals in all competitions, with an impressive spread: nine in the Premier League, six in the Europa League, five in the FA Cup. Eight were match-winners. Half of those were penalties (he scored 10 out of 11 attempts, only having one saved against Aston Villa), though he won six of those himself. Joao Pedro was the first Premier League player to score ten penalty goals in all competitions since Bruno Fernandes in 2020-21.

He is one of only seven players with an FA Cup hat-trick since the start of 2021-22, by scoring three goals away to Sheffield United in the fourth round.

Best creator: Pascal Gross

Pascal Gross picks up his annual award. The German has shown no signs of slowing down, metaphorically or literally — he covered the second-most ground in the league out of anyone and put up his best individual Premier League season for assists (10 with 13 in all competitions).

His 217 shot-creating actions were over twice as many as Brighton’s next-best, evidence of just how outstanding his creativity was. He registered over 100 key passes (all competitions) for the first time as a Brighton player, and Gross was responsible for 10 of the 16 instances of a Brighton player creating five or more chances in a game across all competitions in 2023-24. It was not just that his numbers were outstanding but his consistency good too. In fact, he only failed to create a chance in six out of 47 games.

Gross is hoping to go to the Euros this summer with Germany, who are hosting, having earned his first senior call-up this season.

Best non-goalscorer: Billy Gilmour

Across all competitions, Brighton had only eight outfielders with 900+ minutes that did not score in 2023-24 (13 different players scored). It is a good metric to have few(er) candidates for, and poignantly deserved by Billy Gilmour for all the work the Scotland international does in the build-up to facilitate goals.

He was involved in the build-up to 16 goal-ending sequences last season, the most of any Brighton player, and ranked second for involvement in non-penalty shot-ending sequences (192, behind Gross). Moises Caicedo, formerly of Brighton, was the only under-23 to play more Premier League passes than Gilmour. His progressive pass frequency per 90 (8.19) ranked inside the top 10% of Premier League central midfielders in 2023-24. “Big quality, big attitude, big player” said De Zerbi on Gilmour.