Former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb has revealed that he often got into fights with Pep Guardiola and ignored the manager’s commands.
Hleb spent three seasons at Arsenal from 2005 until his departure for Catalonia in 2008. During his stint with the north London outfit, the Belarusian made 89 league appearances.
His time at the Camp Nou, which coincided with Guardiola’s time at the club as first team manager, didn’t go according to script and during his four-year spell, he spent loan stints at Stuttgart, Birmingham City and Wolfsburg. He was ultimately reduced to a mere 19 league games.
Hleb has revealed that he himself was responsible for the way his time in the Spanish league went as he often got into fights with Guardiola and defied his orders.
“I was always fighting with Guardiola”, he told Catalunya Radio.
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“I didn’t used to listen to him, he would say to take Spanish classes to integrate myself into the team, but I wouldn’t do them.
“[Pep and I] would shout at each other. He expected one thing from me and I wouldn’t do it and the way with which I would say ‘no’ was like a child.
“My judgement was clouded and I ignored him.
“It was my fault I didn’t continue at Barca, it was to do with my character.”
Explaining the reason for his spat with the current Bayern Munich manager, Hleb said that he was often stressed due to problems in his personal life.
“I was stressed because I had problems in my private life.”
Hleb is currently plying his trade with BATE Borisov and will be up against Barcelona in the upcoming Champions League games between the two sides.
