Leeds Live 6/7/21 Ezgjan Alioski was the flawed Leeds United cult hero killing one stereotype at a time

Leeds United and Ezgjan Alioski have failed to reach an agreement on a new contract and thoughts have turned to the Macedonian's legacy after four years of far more than sterile interviews and assist tallies

Tears and wry smiles would have been shared between Leeds United team-mates and staff when news filtered through of Ezgjan Alioski’s exit.

The 29-year-old has worn many faces during Marcelo Bielsa’s three years of seismic change at Elland Road.

Alioski has been the class clown, the comic relief, the shoulder to cry on, the quiet ear for deep conversations, the grafter, the tireless runner, the wind-up merchant, the pest, the fall guy.

Whoever you are, whatever you admire in footballers, whether you’re in his team, coaching him, paying to watch him or critiquing his every move in endless online prose, Alioski has lifted you at one time or another.

Nobody, haters or lovers, could ever say Alioski has been boring at any one stage in Leeds United white across his four years.

Whether it was the spooned throw-in-bound shot at Burnley, the thunderbolt in Huddersfield, the mid-game chat with Steve Bruce, the baiting of Nicolas Pepe, the dolphin impressions or shaking tunnels, Alioski always had you talking about him.

This is why his loss will be felt in all quarters, despite the shortcomings which sometimes showed on the pitch in mistakes, fouls, ballooned corners or shanked shots.

It would be wrong to say Alioski was never without his critics. He was often the easy target for ire and anger when Leeds did, on the odd occasion, struggle across the past three years.

It may feel like the right time for him to move on as Leeds look to take the step, add a left-back from Barcelona and, ultimately knock Alioski, at his physical peak, down the pecking order.

The club’s contract offer, Bielsa’s own comments and Alioski’s outstanding selection record would show a lot of critics just how highly he really is thought of inside the club, if not by 100 per cent of the fan base.

In Bielsa’s first season, Alioski started 45 of the 51 matches in all competitions. Stuart Dallas’s left-back rise in 2019/20 did see some limits on the Macedonian, but he was still in 23 line-ups across the campaign.

Then, last term, the moment of truth at the top tier of English football, surely Alioski would fall by the wayside and be found out. He started 31 of the 40 games in all competitions.

Bielsa can rely on him and wants to rely on him. Alioski’s availability for selection has been tremendous. Much like Jack Harrison, he is rarely injured. That’s critical for Bielsa, that rhythm, that balance, that consistency the head coach needs in his line-ups.

After all, Bielsa admitted, amid the contract speculation around Alioski: "I think if Alioski chooses Leeds, Leeds will choose Alioski.”

Alioski was one of Bielsa’s many projects. It seems easy to forget he was first deployed as an attacking left winger at Leeds.

Bielsa put his tireless engine and work ethic to great use up and down the left flank from a deeper position with opposition forwards unwilling to track him back. Just ask Gareth Bale.

Alioski was a road runner the whole team could rely on. Even if the quality may not have always been there, you knew he would be lurking to pick up the pieces at the back stick every time.

You may not even want to remember Alioski for his best and worst moments in both boxes. What is football without characters? Alioski will go down as a cult hero from this iconic period in Leeds United’s history.

He is the retired veteran returning for a function in 25 years you will tell your children or grandchildren all about with a smile, half-laughing.

The number 10 playing at left-back with wild hair, who ran all day, blew kisses to cardboard cut-outs, imitated crying babies, nibbled Pablo Hernandez’s stomach and fought for every minute as a Leeds United player until the end, with an expiring contract, major tournament and his future career to think about.