Alioski, what are your thoughts?

[YorkshireSquare]

The rumours regarding Alioski signing for that Turkish club refuse to go away and news circulation he has signed a pre-contract with them for next season. Obvioulsy it's an emotive subject but how do you feel about it? Many suggesting they don't want him to play for Leeds again.

For me it's different to Kewell. He was at the club when Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus were murdered. He played in that game, he knew the background, he knew how people felt about it. Alioski on the pother hand was 8 years old when that happened, he probably knew little abut it before joining Leeds. This is probly the last big contract of his career and I doubt there would be many if any bigger teams than them coming in for him.

[Smudge3920]

I wholeheartledly agree with you YS, as you said he was 8 years old now in the twilight of his careerhe has to think of his family's future. ...He has been loyal to Leeds and deserves better from some of the "fan" element.

[YorkshireSquare]

I'm sure Leon never want's to see him play for Leeds again, but that is for entirely footballing reasons!

[Smudge3920]

I'm sure Leon never want's to see him play for Leeds again, but that is for entirely footballing reasons!

That said YS, there is an element of "not understanding"...I am sure Ali knows himself he is weak at LB...however that is the position his manager has asked him to fulfill for the club... and mistakes aside, week in week out he has endured the critisism on social media, and given 110% effort to fulfill that role.

[1964white]

I'm sure Leon never want's to see him play for Leeds again, but that is for entirely footballing reasons!

Why do you think that

[1964white]

For me it's different to Kewell. He was at the club when Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus were murdered. He played in that game, he knew the background, he knew how people felt about it. Alioski on the pother hand was 8 years old when that happened, he probably knew little about
it before joining Leeds. This is probably the last big contract of his career and I doubt there would be many if any bigger teams than them coming in for him.

Agree with you Adam

Ali has his family & career to consider, if he has an excellent offer on the table which will secure his future who can blame him, he knows his days at Leeds are coming to a end so why not?

Ali has given is all for Leeds, unfortunately his best is not good enough to compete in the PL, his position was always debatable in the championship, yes he had some decent games but the stinkers/poor performances outweighed the good ones. He'll leave Leeds with knowledge that he managed two MOTM displays in the top English league & departs with the fans blessing hopefully.

[wilsdenwhite]

I've grown to like Alioski, more so this season. I remember when he first came and in those really early games he seemed to link up really well with Saiz and I thought we had a couple of gems on our hands. Anyway forget all that, one thing we can say about Ali is he always gives his all. His all is a real mixed bag comprising of quality goals, comedy clearances, hard tackles, woeful crosses, miss-hit shots, energy, passion and speed. There were many many games in the Championship when he was my "most shouted at" player if you know what I mean. (A bit like I felt about Luke Varney but with him I often wondered how on earth he ever got to pull on a Leeds shirt in the first place but desperate times obviously called for desperate measures back then.)

Most shouted at out of frustration and WTF moments mainly with Alioski but he always managed to balance his worth out and popped up with some vital goals. I didn't give him a prayer of establishing himself in the top flight along with several others but he certainly hasn't been my most shouted at player this year! I feel he has done OK but there is no place for him anymore moving forward if we are serious about pushing on. Off the field I bet he's a right laugh. Overall I'll be sad to see him go as I'm sure will plenty of our female supporters

Furthermore I've seen much worse PL players over the years than Alioski. He will go with my thanks and best wishes.

[BobHirst]

He has been a great servant to the club. I think he is a great asset as an attacking player. Unfortunately he seems to usually be played at the left back/wing back position where he is called upon to do a lot of defending, which is definitely not his strong point.
He appears to be one of those likeable, enthusiastic, mischievous, people who are fun to be around and also sometimes really effing annoying.
Good luck to him where ever he ends up.

[Clacton White]

I think he may , if he stayed , become a more peripheral player , more squad than first team as I am sure his place may be one of those than can be strengthened greatly . Good player , done his best for Leeds but if he chooses elsewhere so be it .Nothing against him , players move on .

[HarryofOz]

Totally agree YS that their situations are very different due to the timing, the fact that Kewell was with us at the time while Alioski was just a young child.

Also Kewell made the situation worse by claiming the Leeds fans would understand and accept his decision when that was never likely to be true.

Kewell obviously had the right to join them if he wanted to - though his conscience should have made him not do so - but he wasn't right to make those comments.

In the end though, I hope he stays. He would at the very least be a handy squad player who can come off the bench to play left back, left wing back, left wing and even left central midfield (which happened when he and Dallas used to swap roles during a match).

[bremnerboy28]

Putting the Turkish club apart I think Alioski is a very likeable character who will always divide opinion wherever he goes. I think his Turkish fans will probably love his antics but I can see a few reds on the horizon.
The guy always gives 100% and just when you're sick of moaning at him he'll score a screamer but while I think he was ok at Championship level his decision making at Prem level just gets exposed too often. Better going forward than backwards and baffled at times why MB keeps continuing to risk him at the back. I don't think my health could take watching him for another season and he obviously knows himself that he's not quite up to it and would rarely feature next season but good luck to him and he can be proud that he played his part in a bit of Leeds history.

[1964white]

Putting the Turkish club apart I think Alioski is a very likeable character who will always divide opinion wherever he goes. I think his Turkish fans will probably love his antics but I can see a few reds on the horizon.
The guy always gives 100% and just when you're sick of moaning at him he'll score a screamer but while I think he was ok at Championship level his decision making at Prem level just gets exposed too often. Better going forward than backwards and baffled at times why MB keeps continuing to risk him at the back. I don't think my health could take watching him for another season and he obviously knows himself that he's not quite up to it and would rarely feature next season but good luck to him and he can be proud that he played his part in a bit of Leeds history.

[Cjay]

Ali

Criminally underrated by sections of our fanbase imo.

One of the few players who you could rely on to change a game from the bench for us.

Scored some great goals, created many chances, a genuinely lovely character who did mad things like the well known clip of him playing about 8 different positions in under a minute

Infectious character who is clearly a popular lad with his teammates and the fans (Gianni cam).

Ali is from North Macedonia, they have a tight relationship with Turkey now and historically.

You cant judge Ali for joining them, thats not fair.

He quite possibly has Turkish relatives and friends, he was a child living in a different country when the tragedy happened, he cant be expected to run his career based on an event that happened decades ago in a different country.

If he goes it will be a sad day, not because of where he goes but because he would be the first of our promotion squad to leave who genuinely were vital to us getting promoted.

Dont go Ali

[Smudge3920]

Ali

Criminally underrated by sections of our fanbase imo.

One of the few players who you could rely on to change a game from the bench for us.

Scored some great goals, created many chances, a genuinely lovely character who did mad things like the well known clip of him playing about 8 different positions in under a minute

Infectious character who is clearly a popular lad with his teammates and the fans (Gianni cam).

Ali is from North Macedonia, they have a tight relationship with Turkey now and historically.

You cant judge Ali for joining them, thats not fair.

He quite possibly has Turkish relatives and friends, he was a child living in a different country when the tragedy happened, he cant be expected to run his career based on an event that happened decades ago in a different country.

[Overman]

Putting the Turkish club apart I think Alioski is a very likeable character who will always divide opinion wherever he goes. I think his Turkish fans will probably love his antics but I can see a few reds on the horizon.
The guy always gives 100% and just when you're sick of moaning at him he'll score a screamer but while I think he was ok at Championship level his decision making at Prem level just gets exposed too often. Better going forward than backwards and baffled at times why MB keeps continuing to risk him at the back. I don't think my health could take watching him for another season and he obviously knows himself that he's not quite up to it and would rarely feature next season but good luck to him and he can be proud that he played his part in a bit of Leeds history.

Indeed, really time to move on. Infectious character along with all the other clichés, but not what's required for this level. At the end of day he's been on 50k a week. I'm sure he'll be fine. he'll be able to invest in a circus somewhere.

[Mountain]

Indeed, really time to move on. Infectious character along with all the other clichés, but not what's required for this level. At the end of day he's been on 50k a week. I'm sure he'll be fine. he'll be able to invest in a circus somewhere.

I've seen various figures, all the way down to 15k a week.

I'd be surprised that he's amongst the highest earners at the club given he signed his contract a few years ago when 50k would have covered half the team. Of course, maybe it was incentivised based on promotion, but the 15k seems a lot more realistic...

[1964white]

Ali

Criminally underrated by sections of our fanbase imo.

One of the few players who you could rely on to change a game from the bench for us.

Scored some great goals, created many chances, a genuinely lovely character who did mad things like the well known clip of him playing about 8 different positions in under a minute

Infectious character who is clearly a popular lad with his teammates and the fans (Gianni cam).

Ali is from North Macedonia, they have a tight relationship with Turkey now and historically.

You cant judge Ali for joining them, thats not fair.

He quite possibly has Turkish relatives and friends, he was a child living in a different country when the tragedy happened, he cant be expected to run his career based on an event that happened decades ago in a different country.

If he goes it will be a sad day, not because of where he goes but because he would be the first of our promotion squad to leave who genuinely were vital to us getting promoted.

Dont go Ali

No mention that he is a poor defender but then you are critical of Ayling, Dallas & Cooper's defending Cjay, the reason he has always struggled to hold onto a permanent place in the first XI, of late even though his form has been sub-standard he has got fortunate as their are no other options available to Bielsa.

[Durly]

Aardwhite over on the "other place" sums it up perfectly for me (copied below). Can't add much more really........IF the rumours are true (big "if").

"It's tricky. I'm as mealy-mouthed and fair minded as the next man but I struggle with this. I wouldn't expect him to turn down a final payday but equally as much as I am thankful for his time here and the contributions he's made, I can't wish him well.

Wishing him well in his career means that I am hoping that he finds success, and I don't want them to be remotely successful.

So, it's goodbye and thanks but not good luck. Draw a line, move on."

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Temperament and personality wise he reminds me of Paul Gascoigne - but sadly without the skill of Gazza. Like Gazza he is always up for a practical joke, making daft faces and generally being very hyper. Unfortunately like Gazza he has a tendency to do incredibly rash things on the football field ( like with Gazza in that 1991 FA Cup final - when he crocked himself with a daft tackle caused by over-exuberance ) Like Gazza you always worry that he might do something rash which might cause himself and the team problems. He scored some nice goals though - his shooting ability isn't bad at all.

[Cjay]

No mention that he is a poor defender but then you are critical of Ayling, Dallas & Cooper's defending Cjay, the reason he has always struggled to hold onto a permanent place in the first XI, of late even though his form has been sub-standard he has got fortunate as their are no other options available to Bielsa.

Didnt mention it because i dont agree with it.

Ali is no worse a defender than Ayling, Dallas and Cooper. And i bet money if we rewatched all the goals conceded this season Ayling would be directly responsible for more than Ali.

How may pens, sloppy passes, loses of the ball has Ayling been responsible for ? At least 3 or 4 goals and thats just recently, pen and 2 or 3 set pieces.

But cant criticise Ayling because he is going to play for England

Ali is a winger at the end of the day, and as a winger he was a reliable performer who managed to get 7 goals and 5 assists playing for TC and Hecky.

Thats more goal contributions than Costa managed under Bielsa in 1 season its 1 less than Harrison managed under Bielsa and its more in 1 season than Dallas managed in his whole career.

And while we are on the subject of Dallas, the new golden boy.

People fall over themselves to praise him while simultaneously wanting him dropped? Because its almost universal agreement we need midfielders and left backs.

Isnt that a bit of a contradiction?

At the end of the day Ali is a winger who has been forced to play not in the position we signed him for and has done no worse than players like Cooper and Ayling who are naturally defenders or Dallas who has spent literally years being crap before his reinvention as Mr Indispensable who must be a bench player next season according to most fans because we need left backs and midfielders.

Ali is a good defender, a solid performer, but certain fans always took against him for some reason.

In Marcelo Bielsa's career do you know where Alioski ranks for appearances?

3rd.

Only 2 players above him, Jack Harrison by 3 appearences and Mateusz Klich.

I rest my case.