Hleb demands more fight
Birmingham City midfield player Alexander Hleb has demanded his teammates show more fight.
Hleb has only been at the club for a short amount of time and has already experienced victory and defeat. He says if the club is going to achieve anything this season then the team has to produce better
consistency.
Hleb is on loan at Birmingham from Barcelona until the end of the season. He accepts that Birmingham does not have the same quality as the Spanish giants but still demands improvements from the team.
There are many things that Birmingham can do better that would have a positive effect on results. However, there is a case that Hleb is being unreasonable based on his background in the game.
Improvements to be made
Birmingham has to keep the ball better for longer in matches. The side does not have too many players that look comfortable in possession and this must change. Keeping the ball longer will allow Birmingham
to grind down the opposition more effectively.
The club must also do more when the opposition has possession. This means harder pressing of the ball and more tackles in the middle of the pitch to win possession back. Birmingham cannot allow any team
to get comfortable with the ball.
Birmingham is not a good enough football team to waste goal scoring opportunities. The side must make more of great chances to score goals against better teams. This is because chances to score will be
restricted against the best sides in England.
Hleb said: "Here there is not the same quality from players, people don't keep the ball as much.
This is a different side and we need to fight for points.
We recover but then we don't keep the ball, we don't play football."
A gifted background
There is an argument to say that Hleb is being unreasonable because of his background as a player. Hleb has already played for two of the biggest clubs in the world in
Arsenal and Barcelona.
These sides define beautiful football because they keep the ball and pass it around in an efficient way. Hleb would have got used to playing football in a certain way and
it becomes difficult to adapt to a team that doesn't have the same quality.
Hleb may have to accept that Birmingham is a club that doesn't try to be more than it is. This means inconsistency may always be something the club has to endure.
He added: "We play well in first-halves and score good goals. We play well but after that it's not so good.
I don't know why, we are so scared and don't control the ball. I hope we will be better."
Betting advice
Birmingham looks like a solid Premier League club. The club should not have a problem finishing in the top half of the table this season. The club also has an outside chance
to grab a European place and is worth a small bet to achieve this.
Betting in play is the best way to tackle inconsistency in a team. This will allow and impression to be formed of how Birmingham is playing at the start of a game. This
is much better than gambling before a game and not knowing the sort of Birmingham side that is going to turn up.
Hleb is arguably the best player in the football club. He has a lot more quality than other players in Birmingham. This makes him a better bet to score more goals in more
matches. Back him to score in any game at any time.
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