Welcome, Alex Hleb, a.k.a A Little Taste of Belarus

By: Kevin | July 17th, 2008

Welcome, Aleksandr Hleb, another piece of the puzzle that is being put together by Pep Guardiola and the technical staff.

His path went through Stuttgart, then Arsenal, where he learned a love for the beautiful game, which should make him fit in very well now that he is wearing the colors. Hleb is 27 years old, almost 6 feet tall and can play all across the midfield as an attacking mid. His left or right versatility makes him great for adding to our overall team depth.

His strengths are pace, ball possession and dribbling ability. He’s also an excellent passer, and will work very well with Thierry Henry. The two, often along with Emmanuel Adebayor, were formidable at Arsenal, with no real threats coming from anywhere else.

With us, there will be Henry, Messi, Iniesta, that mythical “9,” Xavi, Alves and Keita pushing up, in addition to, at times, Hleb. He will make an excellent addition to our attacking force because the skills that he brings to the table are skills that we were lacking last season. He rarely gives up possession, and can dribble his way out of many a jam. He’s also a one-touch passer, which can be the difference between a striker being offsides and on.

There are, of course, knocks against Hleb by the Arsenal fans, namely that he doesn’t shoot enough. They’re right, in their context. In ours, we are going to have plenty of shooters. Recall that what made Deco so dangerous wasn’t his scoring ability, but his knack for opening up the defense with the right pass, from either in the box or just outside the box. Hleb has that rare ability. Everybody on a side doesn’t need to score goals, let’s not forget.

I am very excited about this signing, and not only for his technical skills.

“I want to win titles, titles are my priority,” said Hleb during his Nou Camp presentation, adding that he was even willing to play in goal if that would help the side.

Hard to argue with a guy like that, who apparently has been on our radar since his Stuttgart days, according to Txiki and the boys. This makes sense, when you look at the style of football that we play.

Guardiola said that Hleb “can play on either of the two wings, or in the middle, and can even play as a false center forward.” Like Iniesta, the adaptability of Hleb is appreciated.

Will he make the starting XI? Good question. I just don’t see it at present, not with the way that Iniesta is playing. But Hleb will give him a very good run for his money. I think that Iniesta has a better eye for goal, but Hleb is the better possession midfielder, and can keep the ball even if fouled. Players such as that are great to have in a side.

So everyone put your hands together, and say hello to our latest acquisition.