Date: 31st May 2015 at 1:10pm
Written by:

I loved Aliaksandr Hleb and I don’t care who knows it. I loved him so much that I spell his name ‘Aliaksandr.’ It’s fair to say that, during his Arsenal career, the Belarussian divided opinion amongst Arsenal fans. Few could deny his mesmeric close control and his George Best-esque dribbling. But Hleb frustrated many with his disinclination to shoot at goal. Hleb could dribble the ball around an entire team, but struggled to pull the trigger in vital areas, always preferring instead to look for a teammate.

I was very much a paid up member of the Hleb fanclub, a Hlebbite if you will. For a start, I think he was actually a lot more effective than people realised. He formed ¼ of the most beautifully balanced midfield since the 1997-98 double team, alongside Flamini, Fabregas and Rosicky. Intelligent, skilful players like Fabregas and Rosicky just loved to play with Hleb and I think that was quite revealing. I think he helped Fabregas turn into a goalscoring midfielder too.

The Spaniard began to find the net much more regularly during the 2007-08 season. Fabregas knew he could give the ball to Hleb and make a forward run safe in the knowledge that Hleb would not lose it. For a team like Arsenal, a player that can dribble and pass as well as Hleb and is that technically secure is very important. It enables Arsenal to commit numbers to attack without fear of reprisal on the counter attack. During that season, Hleb moved into a slightly more central role behind Adebayor at times and he was really blossoming into a fine number ten.

Of course, Hleb’s career has turned rather sour since an ill-advised ice cream with an Inter Milan representative in 2008. He eventually moved to Barcelona that summer. The club tried to keep him but having served three years of his contract, Hleb was now outside of the protected period of his deal and he threatened to invoke the controversial Webster ruling, so Arsenal reluctantly let him leave. His career came to a standstill on the Barca bench. A subsequent loan spell at Birmingham City did not go much better, with the Belarussian publicly chiding the team’s long ball tactics. He publicly admitted to his regret at having left Arsenal whilst in Birmingham’s employ. Hleb returned to Belarus with BATE Borisov and now plays in Turkey with the unfashionable Gençlerbirliği.

The thing is, I came to realise quite a while ago that arguing about Hleb’s effectiveness, or lack thereof, in an Arsenal shirt, is a useless pursuit. Many, understandably, bristle at the Hlebbites weapon of choice, the pre-assist. I would argue that if something happens many, many times it is significant but I can understand why people regard it as a flimsy attribute. But I came to realise that Hleb’s effectiveness was not why I enjoyed his brief Arsenal career so much. The truth is, I just loved watching him play.

It was almost as if a professional ball juggler had briefly strolled onto the pitch and started doing keepy uppies for the amusement of the crowd. It wouldn’t be particularly useful or effective to have a player do this, but it would be great fun to watch. I loved the dizzying regularity with which Hleb could repeat the same trick. Receive the ball to feet, hold it like a matador gripping a red rag and when the opponents close in, shuffle his way through a throng of frustrated opponents. At times he put me in mind of the great Garrincha, virtually challenging players to try and take the ball from him, like an over eager dad challenging his children and all of their friends to try and dispossess him. Dribbling is one of the most entertaining arts of the footballer and Hleb was the greatest dribbler I ever saw. He made me smile and justified a large portion of the entry fee and that’s really all of the rationale I feel required to provide for my unabashed love of Aliaksandr Hleb.

 

2 responses to “I loved Aliaksandr Hleb and I don’t care who knows it”

  1. igburu samuel says:

    hleb oh hleb together with fabregas,rosicky,flamini i saw beautiful and sweet football that is dificult to describe.

  2. Ronninegooner says:

    There is that game we won at emirates in e champs league..i think e score was 6 or even 7 with all those in e midfield…was really amaging game