Leeds United fans shouldn’t give up on £3.2 million man Ezgjan Alioski yet.
Leeds United might have a new head coach, but some things haven’t changed on the pitch as of yet as Ezgjan Alioski continues to struggle for form.
Alioski’s decline contributed to the departure of Thomas Christiansen seven days ago and the Macedonia international didn’t look much better in Paul Heckingbottom’s first game in charge.
Leeds went down 2-1 at Sheffield United on Saturday and Alioski posted yet another rather toothless performance which could and probably should prompt Heckingbottom to wonder whether he deserves dropping.
But the 25-year-old might just come into a bit of form soon, if last season is anything to go by.
Alioski earned a £3.2 million summer move to Leeds after hitting 16 goals in 34 games for Swiss side Lugano last term and, interestingly, there was a major dip in performances around the same time.
The attacker, who is now 10 games without a goal for United, didn’t score for Lugano from November 20 until March 6 (including the winter break) in a barren run that lasted seven matches, but Alioski did regain his form and score seven goals in the final two months of their season.
That isn’t to say that he’ll enjoy a prolific end to his debut season with Leeds, but it does suggest that he is at least capable of turning things around dramatically and Heckingbottom will be hoping that his resurgence comes sooner rather than later because Leeds – who have lost five and drawn two of their last seven games – badly need it.
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