Yes and no. His skill set is not good enough to be a world-renowned EPL player, but I think a truly intelligent managerial team would have realized from his prior experiences at NEC and AZ that Ali struggles a bit to build up the confidence but when he gets it you have to pile on the minutes and experience. He did poorly his first years at NEC and AZ before becoming a phenomenal player (granted, for that league). It was a real golden missed opportunity to play him consistently after the back to back goals vs Bournemouth and Chelsea. Now you could say this is the nature of EPL and GP in particular likes to change lineups every time he sneezes, but the reality is that anyone with an understanding of Ali’s history and play groaned when he was left out of the lineup after the Chelsea game consistently. That was a time that someone should have come to Potter and said hey listen stick this guy in for 4-5 games in a row after he has started producing. I get it though, in that especially with a team that is constantly fighting relegation and in a league that is high stakes, you need to be able to turn that switch on at an instant. Ali’s just not that kind of player.
I do think, however, that the constant changing lineups and lack of consistency does get into certain players’ minds as a lack of confidence from the manager and does lead to reduced yield/outcomes.
Just my two pence.
