Arsène Wenger is unlikely to play
Alex Hleb up front on a permanent basis this season.
Injuries meant the Belarus midfielder supported frontman
Robin van Persie for the first two games of the season before
reverting to his more usual wide role at Blackburn on Sunday.
Hleb scored in both his games alongside the Dutchman but Wenger has
suggested that
Emmanuel Adebayor will have recovered from his groin injury for
the visit of Manchester City on Saturday.
If the Togolese striker is back then Arsenal will have their
full compliment of strikers once more. It means Hleb's brief
sojourn up front will be over.
"Alex likes to play through the middle," admitted Wenger.
"But I must say if you ask Steven Gerrard or Tomas Rosicky or
any of these kinds of creative players then they all say they want
to play there.
"However I cannot isolate Robin van Persie up there the whole
year. It does not work on a longer period. It can work in some
games but it cannot be the basis of your game. You need two
strikers."
