Player Report: Ali Ahmed

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Ali Ahmed has gone off to Norwich City.

 

Honestly not a surprise considering how great of a player he is. In this time in Vancouver he has played 102 games. In that time he has 8 goals and 14 assists. In his last 30 games he played with the Whitecaps Ali had 4 goals and 13 assists.

 

Ali’s playmaking and offensive positioning had gone up drastically, he was always in the right place at the right time. And when he would take off into open space and receive passes it would blow the defenceman’s mind.

 

His game clearly took a step up.

 

He was awesome to watch here in Vancouver over the season. The way he would glide around defenders and set up plays inside the box was beautiful. I definitely miss it.

 

He is also on the Canadian men’s team where he has 6 appearances and 1 assist. Chances are he will be playing on the team coming up in the world cup. Hopefully his recent run of good form transfers back to the national team. Sometimes different systems can hinder or improve a player in their role. For example it wouldn’t make sense to put a fast player in the central position where they can really utilize the space.

 

So Norwich City took a chance on him and brought him into the championship. Just below the Premier League. In only 19 games Ali has already accumulated 4 goals and 3 assists. He even scored on his debut and the fans were chanting his name at the end of the game.

Sadly he has become yet another player lost to European leagues, as most of the young talented players end up going. I understand MLS isn’t the most prestigious league and it’s good to challenge new leagues and make a name for yourself but as a fan it hurts none the less.