Ali B....How good was he ?

[Cellarite]

do you remember the 'ali ali' chants bowing in turn ? He must have been some player in his day.

Sheff Wednesday away, 6-2. It was all you could here as he ran the show. What ever we go on to achieve, I'll never forget his performance that day.

tom, tom, tom. you sir, know you're stuff. that night i was back in the kitchen after going to wednesday, pissed up, serenading the missus with chants of "ALI ALI ALI".

< my location is all i need to say about him.

 

[johnmc]

Dont get me wrong I loved watching him and Eyal as well - he was the best player in the Championship. However he didnt make the step up - too slow/old for the premier league.

Same story with a lot of players - Scott Sinclair for example this year.

 

[woolleyback blue]

I think he came to England to find a club and Sunderland(?) said they would give him a trial!!!!
Had the same agent as a City player and Keegan snapped him up. He was absolute class and his debut for us was one of the best I have ever seen.

Didn't he actually go to Sunderland for the trial and they turned him down, City had said if he didn't join Sunderland we'd take a look at him and the rest is history.

 

[asgoodasitgets]

Dont get me wrong I loved watching him and Eyal as well - he was the best player in the Championship. However he didnt make the step up - too slow/old for the premier league.

Same story with a lot of players - Scott Sinclair for example this year.

I d say that most people, Ali included, recognised that fact, but to compare him with Scott Sinclair is an insult. Ali came to City in the twilight of his career and provided many magical moments. The fact he couldn t do it week in week out in the Premiership was a disappointment to many,but understandable.

My one standout moment was sitting in the Platt Lane (against Newcastle I think, Huckerby 1-0 ) and Dunney smashed the all out of defence like a rocket. It came to Ali at a million MPH about knee height. He stuck out a foot, killed the ball instantly and then caressed it between 2 Newcastle players to Huckerby. Problem was , Huckerby didn t expect it ( no-one did ) and the pass was wasted.

Great player and when he played against Barca he got a great send off.

 

[notts blue]

to me david silva and nasri are a good match to what we had with ali b and berkovic, keep ball city!!

 

[the blue panther]

He was a joy to watch but, as he didn't make the step up after promotion, he can't go on a list of all time greats BUT that doesn't stop him being a legend to some of us. That promotion season with him and Berkovitch was a wonderful season for us and the start of our resurgence. Such a shame that we got him at 33 years old.
I hoped he was going to attract some new Algerian talent our way after he left, but sadly, we're still waiting. Luckily, now, we don't need it.

 

[notts blue]

ali,ali,ali,ali,ali,ali........

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

You may be right, but bare in mind, Silva, great player that he is, is playing in a much higher quality team than Ali, I think it may be closer than you think.

It took Benarbia a long time to break into the top league. He was 27/28 when he went to Monaco and 33 when he joined us. Silva is 25 and is still getting better by the week. When he is 33 and lost some pace he will probably have the same vision as Benarbia did. Its very easy for a class player to stand out in a shit team. Its harder to shine when you surrounded by diamonds but Silva still manages it

Fair shout mate.

Yeah I don't always talk bollocks, lol

 

[Tameside Tom]

It took Benarbia a long time to break into the top league. He was 27/28 when he went to Monaco and 33 when he joined us. Silva is 25 and is still getting better by the week. When he is 33 and lost some pace he will probably have the same vision as Benarbia did. Its very easy for a class player to stand out in a shit team. Its harder to shine when you surrounded by diamonds but Silva still manages it

Fair shout mate.

Yeah I don't always talk bollocks, lol

Ha-Ha !! :)

 

[forevermancity]

Dont get me wrong I loved watching him and Eyal as well - he was the best player in the Championship. However he didnt make the step up - too slow/old for the premier league.

Same story with a lot of players - Scott Sinclair for example this year.

comparing ali to scott sinclair.

wow.

just wow.