ALEX Hleb has called for his Arsenal team to become harder next season, though being banned for the rest of this season after slapping Reading’s Graeme Murty in the face was probably not quite the sort of aggression his manager had in mind. Hleb has been linked to a move away from the Emirates in the summer, but in the aftermath of those painful defeats at Anfield and Old Trafford, which left Arsenal without a trophy for the third successive year, he was not talking like a man on the move.

Instead, as Arsenal travel to Derby County tomorrow night, the Belorussian was absorbing the lessons to be learnt from the sudden anticlimax and reflecting on the very un-Arsenal-like notion of winning ugly. “We have to accept that sometimes victory will not look beautiful,” he says. “We need to learn to play to win, not just play the beautiful game. The win is more important than beauty and my feeling is that playing the beautiful game is no compensation for not winning a trophy.”

Hleb, though, knows that he is part of the problem as well as the solution. His quick-passing, fluent style of play has been at the heart of much of Arsenal’s best work this season, particularly in European ties, but with only four goals in 39 games he has fallen six short of the target he set himself at the start of the season. Hleb has shed the diffidence that marked his first two years at the Emirates and won over the Arsenal crowd, who thought him too lightweight for the Premier League, but admits that he still freezes in front of goal, often choosing the easy option rather than taking the responsibility of scoring himself. “What is it that stops me from shooting sometimes?” he asks. “I know I pass the ball when I’m in a good position and I’m thinking ‘that was a good chance’. It all goes back to my childhood, to my coach, who always said ‘pass, pass, pass’.”

Hleb will not be drawn on his future, refusing to comment on reports of a move to Internazionale. “Who knows what will happen?” he says. “All I can say is that I enjoy the game here and enjoy playing for Arsenal. There is more to come from this team and from me.” His importance to Arsenal is illustrated by Arsène Wenger’s angry reaction to praise for the player from Roberto Mancini, the Inter coach. Wenger supects Inter’s flattery may be designed to unsettle the player, and he threatened to report the Italians to Fifa. “If Inter are interested, why do they not call me?” Wenger said. “If they want to buy a player from us, they call me and accept the answer they get. Mancini is being disrespectful. They [Inter] can call us or I will report them to Fifa.”

Arsenal’s season fractured, Hleb admitted, on that terrible afternoon at St Andrews when Eduardo’s ankle snapped and the questions about Arsenal’s fragility spread from body to mind. “The tackling and the style of play has become more aggressive,” he says. “Sometimes you can see a tackle coming and if you don’t do anything you could lose both your legs. The referees should be protecting players and the game, if they don’t, the aggression is going to escalate.”

Hleb, who turns 27 on May Day, will not be wanting for suitors if he decides to move on. His style would translate easily to Italy or Spain but Wenger will hope that a sense of unfinished business in a young and talented team will keep him in town. Hleb should listen to the voice of reason.

Derby v Arsenal, Setanta Sports 1, tomorrow, 7pm, kick-off 8pm