Hleb wants Birmingham to be a bit more Arsenal
Published 23:00 04/10/10 By David Anderson
Aleksandr Hleb claims the only way Birmingham can win back their fans is by playing football.
The Blues were booed off after Everton ended their 13-month unbeaten home run and supporters have criticised Alex McLeish's negative 4-5-1 formation at going 289 minutes at St Andrews without a league goal.
Hleb claims Birmingham have enough quality in their squad to be more expansive in their play.
"It has been difficult, a very disappointing start," said the on-loan Barcelona midfielder. "But this is football. We have to learn at home to play more football to be more aggressive and score more goals.
"We must pass the ball better and keep the ball better at home if we want to be better in front of goal. Perhaps we shouldn't always look for the long balls as that is very difficult when one striker is playing against two defenders.
"Birmingham are different from the teams I have played with before. But it is still good, we can fight and play football, but we need a bit more.
"Birmingham may not have the quality of what I've played with before, but there are still good players and we just need to learn. Learn to keep the ball more and be more patient around the goal."
