Algorithmic F2L isn't about learning a "set" of 41 algorithms and then applying them blindly. It's obvious that people who do that aren't going to be fast, just like people who try to do the cross by solving one piece before finding the next one. For me algorithmic F2L is about learning an efficient way to deal with each case (or perhaps several depending on whether you have other F2L pairs open) immediately. The important thing is to understand what the algorithm is doing, so that you can do it from any angle and on any color (and even on megaminx). But for the most part I did not spend time figuring out my F2Ls myself, instead I started out by learning an efficient way to solve each case (and watching the pieces to figure out WHY it worked), which I think made me improve with F2L a lot faster at the start. Instead of figuring out a move sequence as I went, I was given one and then figured out why it worked. Algorithmic F2L is only bad if you learn the sequences blindly and can't apply them from other angles, just like intuitive F2L is only bad if you don't put in the effort to find efficient ways of doing each case.
The end result is the same, though. Someone who learns intuitive F2L properly (so they have efficient move sequences) and someone who learns alg F2L properly (so they really understand what their sequences are doing) will end up the same, both should be just as efficient and just as fast at recalling what to do for each case.