The editor's comments from yesterdays blog on Arsenal concerning Alexandr Hleb:
"Hleb was fantastic last night but he was guilty a few times of looking for the extra pass AFTER beating his man to gain a clear sight of goal"
I'm bored in Munich, so here's my thinking on Hleb and a clip of the Belarusian.
There's no questioning Hleb's qualities as a soccer player, but I'm not convinced he improves Arsenal as a whole. In fact, and this might sound a bit double-dutch, in some ways the better he looks on the field the the worse I think it is for Arsenal. When Pires and Ljunberg were in their prime they'd get the ball and go straight at the opposition, often simply straight at goal. Hleb doesn't, as he doesn't come from a football culture that plays that way. Yes, both Arsenal and Eastern European football is rooted in high technical ability and ball possession but Arsenal's game is based on speed, whereas East European teams have a tradition of playing a patient, considered game. At Stuttgart, Hleb's last team, where he was successful, he was the fulcrum of the team. He'd hold up the ball, bringing others into play. At Arsenal he's just one of many, and when he holds the ball up he's just giving the opposition more time to get players back. He looks very good doing it, with beautiful ball control, but ultimately it's not what Arsenal want.
Contrast Theo Walcott's performances of the past month with those of Hleb's at the beginning of the season. Walcott has often messed up, but he's done so in areas that can really hurt the opposition. Hleb is often the opposite. He looks good on the ball but in areas of little threat. Rosicky seems a better combination of the two, though all need to start scoring goals a'la Pires.
It'll be interesting to see what happens over the summer with Franck Ribery, a player who perhaps fits the Arsenal mold better [not least because he's French]. There's clearly reasons to stick with Hleb. He's certainly not played poorly and unquestionably has the talent to adapt to Arsenal's style. In fact, clips like the one below imply he slowly doing so. But will Wenger be able to resist another young Frenchie?