9:49
You see headlines like Bayern talk angers Hleb and Hleb frustration at transfer talk.
You read quotes like : "These reports anger me. I have not signed for Bayern, Barcelona or any other club for that matter. So much is being speculated and said, but I just want to have some peace and sit down with my closest friend Niki Spilevski to consider my future."
Spilevski is his agent.
The latest noises from Hleb back up what I said last week : that Wenger wants to use him as test case. Wenger is saying to Hleb: OK, go to a tribunal and tell them how you have been maltreated, why you are so unhappy. When I saw headlines saying Hleb is angry about reports that he wants to leave Arsenal, I laughed out loud and thought, "You arsehole ! You’ve told your agent to hawk you around to the highest bidder. You’ve removed your furniture from your Hampstead house, your pop star wife has cancelled her gym membership in Swiss Cottage - but your agent hasn't got you a deal yet. Because you're not better than what Barcelona already have ! And Jose Mourinho has made it clear after taking over at Inter Milan that Alex Hleb is not part of his plans. He knows that Arsenal is your level."
That's what I think : Alex Hleb is not as good as the players Barcelona are unloading, let alone as good as the players who won two titles for them in 2005 and 2006 .
Hleb is 27 and his agent figures, "It's now or never for a big money move. We have to cash in now."
It's either about money or because Hleb thinks Arsenal will not win anything in the remaining years of his contract.
But when was the last time Hleb scored a significant goal against a big team in a crunch game ? When has he ever popped up and changed a game ? Overmars, Pires and Ljungberg all scored vital goals in big games when the pressure was on. In their prime, Overmars, Pires and Ljungberg were all good enough to play for Barcelona.
This guy has only scored 10 goals in three years. He scored two league goals in 2007-2008 and both were against Reading ! Two league goals in 29 starts ! His other two goals were against Slavia Prague and Sparta Prague.
Hleb is not Arjen Robben , is he? Robben was the most productive winger in Europe for three months until Mokoena broke his leg at Blackburn.
For Hleb to come out now and say, "Everyone says I want to leave Arsenal, so I'm upset about it," is entirely despicable and quite ridiculous. And very insulting to Arsenal fans.
Your bottle's gone, lad. You're beginning to get cold feet about going. Why haven't big Champions League clubs been fighting each other to sign you? This much is now clear :Alex Hleb is starting to think that leaving Arsenal is not such a great idea.
On Thursday I was reading a Lawrence Donegan piece in The Guardian where he said that it was depressing to realise that Cristiano Ronaldo had the heart of a hedge fund manager, that he only cares about money.
That doesn't depress me because I read in Graeme Souness's book, No Half Measures, that footballers care about money more than anything else.
Let's be crystal clear about this : Hleb wanted to leave and planned to leave. He discussed his future with his agent and they both know that Arsene only gives one-year deals to players over 30. And if Arsene Wenger didn't give a two-year deal to Robbie Pires, he would not be giving two more years to Alex Hleb from Minsk, who is not half the footballer Pires was and is. (AW still regrets not giving Robbie two years and still talks about him a lot.)
So Hleb and his agent planned his exit from Arsenal long ago. But that plan has not worked because, I reckon, Wenger has stood his ground and said : You're ridiculing my strategy. If I let you do this, every player will do it after you. And my strategy will be in tatters. I will not be able to sign kids and grow a team because half my best players will walk after two or three years. Therefore, I will make you famous in a way that you don't want to be famous. You will be like Bosman, the first footballer who tests the Webster clause, so you can go and plead your case to a tribunal and tell them how you have been maltreated at London Colney, and how you are depressed by living in the noisy streets of Hampstead.
It's all about money, money, money. Hleb hasn't asked for a transfer because he makes more money from the deal if he doesn't submit a written transfer request.
Alex Hleb is an ungrateful mercenary and I don't want him to play for Arsenal again anyway. But I really can't see what all the fuss has been about. Flamini and Hleb want to go? Fine ! Neither of them are great players and neither is irreplaceable. Will the biggest club in Europe's biggest city collapse if two competent players leave?
If Hleb is sold to Barcelona for £12million, we should have a big party in Finsbury Park !
My problem is that I can't imagine the tribunal.If he buys out his contract, he has to go to a tribunal. Would they would ask Hleb about this interview in World Soccer magazine:
“At Stuttgart I played just behind the main striker and the play all went through me. Then at Arsenal, I got a different role and it took me a while to adapt to the constant movement on the right side of midfield. Wenger is a great tactician, he sees absolutely everything. He knows how to find a key to every player - he is a coach sent by God. I still remember him saying: 'Alexander, I do not just buy any player; I watched you for two years. Everyone finds it hard at first, especially if you come from another country. I am convinced everything will work out.' “Those words helped me a lot.”
Any tribunal would ask : Why do you want to leave the coach sent by God?
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From: Squatter
Date: Fri, Jun 13, 2008 at 4:48 PM
Subject: Alex Hleb goals 2007/8
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:48:35 +0000 (UTC)
Just for the record mate. Whilst Alex Hleb is about as productive as the Millenium Dome, he did in fact score against Fulham on the opening day of last season.Cheers.
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From : Mornay Visser
Date: Jun 13, 2008 8:39 PM
Subject: Podolski
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008
Podolski played for FC Cologne....not Cottbus! geez!
