The Second Coming Of Hleb
Nov 15th, 2007 by 'holic
If there has been a change in perception about a couple of Arsenal players this season then surely the subject of one of the transformations has been Alexander Hleb. Perhaps change and transformation are not the correct words to use?
I remember taking my father to see the Gunners play Charlton in the last season at Highbury. Hleb formed a new partnership on the right with Emmanuel Eboue behind, and Cesc Fabregas inside. The three of them passed their way around and through the visitors at will throughout the afternoon, and Hleb was rewarded with the second goal in a comfortable triumph. It was typical of his performances as Arsenal stormed into the European Champions League Final.
The slender little fella with the spindly legs and sagging socks looked set to establish himself as a real Arsenal star. Then came the first season at the Grove, and a loss of consistency brought the critics out of the woodwork. Hleb was seen as the prime culprit when the Gunners wanted to pass their way into the opposing goal. So often the attempt to thread the eye of the needle failed and the unwillingness to shoot frustrated.
There is a feeling that Hleb has benefited more than most from the summer departure of Thierry Henry. Certainly he has excelled in the free role behind Emmanuel Adebayor while Robin van Persie has been laid up by injury. His stunning finish at the Mad Stad on Monday brought the loudest cheer of a very good and noisy night. Yet from the start of the season the Belarus international had once again shown tremendous creativity and quick feet on the right hand side.
Rumours coming out of the Grove in the last couple of weeks suggest that Hleb is about to be offered a new contract, and that he will be delighted to accept. I hope those reports are more than just speculation. There are few finer sights in the Premiership than the skinny playmaker at his best, ball glued to his feet as he mesmerises hapless defenders.
Keep it up Alex, and thank you!
26 Responses to “The Second Coming Of Hleb”
First drink?
Don’t you start! I had trouble with silly beggars trying to start first hic a while back.
They are gone!
🙂
Alex Hleb, Alex Hleb running all the way, Oh What fun it is to see the Belarussian Play!!!!!!
We are blessed with class at the moment. Top article to celebrate another top player at Arsenal.
What is it with Arsenal blogs these days? There’s nothing to talk about, lets see, I’ll talk about Alex Hleb for one hundreth millionth time.
The guy has been playing well for the whole time he has been here bar a couple of months but all of a sudden it’s en vogue to mention how good he is. Arsenal fans and English fans are so retarded and need to jump on a bandwagon before praising someone.
quality article, good read, brilliant player!
by the way…
i am a season ticket holder & im looking to buy an Arsenal DVD off of someone, its the 01-02 season review, magic hat, im willing to pay 20-30 quid, & i cant get it anywhere! is there any Arsenal fan out there that has it thats willing to sell it to me? my hotmail address is mcdannypdng@hotmail.com, please email if you’re interested! thanks, Dan
Paul, I agree that it was frustrating between seasons as Hleb was getting berated by more ‘fans’ on more blogs then were defending him and I agree that was both unfair on him and reflected poorly on the judgement of the many who were writing about him. But let’s not begrudge Alex getting the applause he deserves (and I think deserved sooner). I for one am happy to hear good things about him – the more good things written about him and the rest of the team, the better as it means we are still winning! Keep it up Alex & keep talking about how good our boys are Gooner! Cheers 🙂
Hlebby is class. Finally he’s getting the appreciation he deserves…
»»Arsene Knows««
To Paul,
the reason Hleb is getting a lot of support is because there were quite a few gooners who were saying he should be shown the door, and he wasn’t good enough. He’s always been an important component of the team, his creativity excellent, and his quickness and fleetness of foot second to none on the prem. And now, finally, he is being realised for what he brings to the team. It’s good to see his merits being praised.
»»Arsene Knows««
My point is he is hardly playing any different than he did before- maybe a slight improvement- and just because we’re winning and everything is going well everyone is talking about how wonderful he is. Ignorance of the highest order.
Anyway, better late than never.
Hic? what’s wrong with Hics?
ive always felt hleb was very instrumental in last season’s arsenal, although it was indeed sometimes frustrating to see him shy of shots on goal..ya guys know whats most worth getting miffed about now? its is that while most of hleb’s critics over the prev season are now cowering in embarassment, these few people still refuse to learn from pre-conceived judgments.
One case in particular is how they have been putting rosicky down so much. One cant fault his injury, and its not something he can do about. More importantly, people have been criticising his playing, which i think is not warranted. not only is he still recovering from a nagging problem, his play has been pretty decent imo.
against reading people rated him poorly, but they failed to see his little yet immense contributions. Who tackled magnificently to win the ball for ade to hit the post in the 3rd min? And was it not rosicky who ran quite a length to support ade which led to the pass culminating in the 2nd goal? the incredibly fickleness, the lack of faith and a quick tongue in some gunner quarters astounds me.
Last season, I was one of the many supporters clamouring for his departure. He seems ponderous on the ball, then. With hindsight, maybe he was looking for Henri everytime he has the ball then.
Now with the great man gone, Hleb seems to be, like the others, a free bird.
My sincere apologies for the lack of foresight, Mr. Hleb.
Hleb was rubbished by Arsenal fans, no question. He seems to be a real confidence player and in the last couple of seasons his confidence has been down and he hasn’t played well. Having said that he was definitely the scapegoat in the whole “Shoot! Shoot!” debate about how Arsenal tried to pass their way into the net.
Thankfully times have changed. He’s confident, he’s playing well and he deserves all the praise he gets.
Paul – I totally agree. I can’t believe players are questioned on such a regular basis despite consistent performances. The questioning of Rosicky is not justified. One player who people continue to question is Adebayor and I just can’t understand why. He may not finish like Henry but his presence up front has been unbelieveable this season. Yet people still complain he doesn’t score enough.
It’s quite disappointing really.
Firstly, lets not say who’s right , who’s wrong here…Come on…we are all gunners, supporting a great club probably playing the kind of football that made us gunners in the first place…..Anyway, Hleb has been his usual form all along and maybe has more confidence this season. Ade? His towering presence is enough to pull 2 players thus leaving space for others to operate and he has a strong feet too…….Rosicky’s commitment on the pitch alone is good enough..
great player. that goal against Reading nice footwork. However cant we get him socks that fit!!!
Hleb as always been good. I always admired the way he dribbles. If uv ever played football, u know how hard it is to do what he does. I guess it’s because the team is doing well that we realise he’s good.
Hleb is now the deadliest bribller in the premiership in my opinion.
Just look at berbatov and perhaps Ronaldo (his skill shines because of the stamina he has) and al tell you the 3 are so close to each other.
By the way, Arsenal should think about bringing Berbatov-
Paul, yes I am looking to fill an international week. I don’t want to cover the same ground as other blogs if I can help it. There are a couple of players who have risen in stock this season, and you may be right that is partly because of the fact we are winning. I would argue the opposite, it is because the likes of Hleb and Flamini have produced consistently that we have kept that winning run going. If you think Alex has been a permanent success I would suggest to you you weren’t reading much last season, or you weren’t listening to the people in the ground who groaned when he fell short of his own high standards last term.I’d love to know more about why you consider ‘Arsenal fans and English fans are so retarded’ and yet you are here reading an Arsenal blog?
All the Way Alexander ”The Illusionist”” Hleb!
Hleb has been consistently good for Arsenal since he’s been with us. From the first time I saw him, I thought, “now that’s an Arsenal player, through and through”.
agree but what about his socks!!!
We did pay Stuttgart somewhere between £6m rising to £10m for him.
He was hardly a bargain.
I’m just delighted he’s repaying Wenger’s faith in him.
Finally.
I think he doesnt like wearing shin pads thats why his socks are falling off lol
He’s been getting stick last season for sure, I think he has shown us that he has gone pass that now, to me it was mainly becasue of Henry everyone looked up to him. It’s a different team dhis season the Gunner ghost is back!
I remember an Arsecast with Amy Lawrence where she suggested there might not be much to choose between Bentley and Hleb. That was a harsh indictment of his form at the time.
Have you had a bad experience with socks Finley?
🙂
You don’t get it do you? The point is I didn’t listen to the stupid fans groaning in the stadium nor did I pay any attention to fans on blogs slating Hleb. Even Amy Lawrence, usually fairly knowledgeable, was slagging him off constantly on the Arselog Arsecast. I watched the games and realised how much he was brining to the team, although he did irritate me at times as well.
As Wenger says, Hleb plays through a needle and with that style your gonna get misplaced passes. That’s when fans intelligence comes into it. Unluckily for Alex, that isn’t a strong point of the crowd at the Emirates or any other in England. Unless we’re winning, then everybody goes “unlucky Alex!”.
What I am seeing Paul is that you and I are almost singing from the same hymnsheet. The only difference is that I don’t see those who criticised him last season as ‘stupid fans’.
It was clear a couple of years ago that we had signed a very special talent. When he went off the boil in the latter half of last season, and he did, those who pay good money following the club were perfectly entitled to voice their concerns.
What I’ve observed this season is them accepting they were harsh in their judgement, and Alex getting the plaudits his rediscovered consistency deserves.
People are entitled to hold a different opinion to you and I now and again you know.
😉