Phil Hay, Michael Normanton and Dan Moylan discussed all things Leeds United on the most recent edition of The Phil Hay Show, where Hay spent some time talking about Ezgjan Alioski.
Alioski arrived at Elland Road back in the summer of 2017 and current Whites manager Marcelo Bielsa joined the club a year later. The North Macedonia international has been one of Bielsa’s most heavily-used players at Leeds, with the 28-year-old having played the third-highest number of games (92) of any player under the Argentinian coach since his arrival at the Yorkshire-based club.
Alioski played the second-highest number of league minutes for Bielsa’s side during the 2018/19 Championship season, while he played a slightly less significant role last season, with 11 Whites players accumulating more league minutes than him, though he did still feature in 39 of their 46 Championship games.
While discussing the 28-year-old during this recent edition of The Phil Hay Show, Hay shared that he doesn’t think Alioski will play a very prominent role for the Whites this season.
He said: “It doesn’t feel to me like he’s going to be a regular starter this season. I think Raphinha can play on both sides, right or left. [Jack] Harrison – a little bit like [Mateusz] Klich and a few others – is somebody that Bielsa is happy to rely on any day of the week, and I think will do constantly this season, and somebody, equally, who just seems to improve as the years go by here.
“So, it doesn’t leave much room for Alioski when it comes to the starting lineup.
“I think it will be a bench role for Alioski and it was inevitable, at some point – there would be players who’ve been key and crucial in this Championship spell under Bielsa who would start to become peripheral, little by little.
“It’s the way of the world and it’s the way of the game and if Leeds do establish themselves in the Premier League, he won’t be the last player that it happens to.”
Do you think Alioski will play an important role for Leeds this season?
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TIF Thoughts…
So, as can be seen in what the journalist had to say, it seems as though Hay believes that the £3.15m-rated man will not start for Leeds in the Premier League, week in, week out.
That may a bittersweet pill for Leeds fans to swallow, with Whites supporters well attuned to the North Macedonia international’s charismatic antics since his arrival at the club three years ago. However, it could be argued that Hay indeed has a point in his evaluation of his status in the current Leeds setup.
As per WhoScored, Alioski has started just one of the Whites’ first four league games this season and he has earned the second-lowest overall WhoScored rating (6.11) of any Leeds player to have started a league game during the 2020/21 campaign, so it may be understandable why the journalist believes he may not be a key player for the Whites this term.
That said, even as a bench player, Alioski could potentially play an important role for Leeds, as he is a versatile player who has played in as many as nine different positions in his career, according to Transfermarkt, so maybe this shows that he can provide cover for Leeds in a variety of different positions, which could prove to be valuable for Bielsa’s side.