Hleb is Arsenal’s Pragmagician

First of all, apologies for the delay with this post, we have been having some technical problems.

The game against Reading has come and gone, and there are many things to talk about, but I’m going to use the performance of Hleb, who once again showed that he is fulfilling his potential with a truly world-class piece of skill and a sublime goal, for the subject of my post.

Five of our starting front six (Hleb, Rosicky, Fabregas, Adebayor and Van Persie) have the ability to unlock an opposition defence all on their own, which is incredibly exciting. In the days of the Invincibles, who are often considered better individual players and have world superstar status, there were only three players who had that same ability to unlock a tight defence (Henry, Bergkamp, Pires). The likes of Ljungberg, Vieira et al. were great gladiators and athletes, who had a winning mentality, but had nowhere near the technical ability of the current Arsenal team, which is fast becoming talked about as the modern brand of Total Football – not since the great Dutch side have people so consistently referred to Total Football. One of the key reasons for Wenger’s latest Arsenal side being likened to the superlative “Oranje” side of the 1970s, is the form and coming of age of Alexandr Hleb.

Fans and commentators were scathing of our ex-gymnast Belarusian last season, and perhaps with good reason, as time and time again his nimble footwork and graceful interplay resulted in…no results!! At the time I was also frustrated, as it was clear that he had immense ability but with little end product. It is not like Wenger to spend £10m so haplessly and as the saying goes, “Arsene knows”. Low and behold, Hleb is setting the premiership alight this season with a string of outstanding performances which have been littered with goals and assists. He is thriving in his new role as playmaker, with a confidence and zeal to his game that is a real joy to watch, and for opposing players he is proving to be as elusive as he is to a decent haircut, drifting from wing to wing and through the middle with real purpose. He has finally found the ability to meet his elaborate brand of modern total football with a pragmatic determination to consistently deliver winning performances – which can only mean more goals, more wins and more wonderful football for not only Arsenal, but all football fans.

I found the tabloid reaction to Cesc and Alexandr’s trip to watch Barcelona play very amusing. Not only is it Cesc’s birthplace, but is also where their former teammate and good friend Thierry Henry plays, what's the big deal?! I see it from a completely different angle – given a midweek break, rather than sit in front of their televisions bored stupid, our two most creative players went on a mini-break to a great European city – this is fantastic news for Arsenal! Not only are they forming a very good relationship on the pitch, they also forming an incredibly good relationship off it as well – send Rosicky with them to Milan next time!

I don’t want to talk about England or McLaren, as I have so many thoughts on the whole situation that it would be far too jumbled for one post, maybe I will mention something after the game on Wednesday.

Next up for Arsenal is Wigan at home – who will play in Cesc’s absence? Gilberto Silva, Diarra, Denilson or Diaby? I imagine that Wenger will choose between Gilberto and Diarra. I rather hope that he will go for Diarra, who has so far looked like an absolute steal at £2m. He is fast, aggressive, technically gifted and has a winning mentality – I am very excited by his future at Arsenal, provided he is given a decent chance sooner rather than later.

Martin Webb