Thursday, March 28, 2024

Wenger’s ga-ga-got his poker face on again

Arsene Wenger has admitted that transfer business is very much like a game of poker.

Someone deals you 5 cards, and then you can swap some of those cards for other cards, and bet on the cards before you think ‘Why the hell am I going all in on a pair of threes?!’.

Hopefully the Arsenal boss is about to prove he’s a 5-card stud rather than a Texas hold ’em as links to Riyad Mahrez and Alexandre Lacazette grow.

Speaking to the official site, the Frenchman said, “We look still for an offensive position and defensive position.

“We are very active on the transfer market but it’s a long time to go. Everybody has a handbrake on at the moment. It’s a little bit of a poker game until mid-August in my opinion.

“So we might have to be good at poker.”

Having said just days ago that he’s ready to spend big on the right players, ideally he’ll have his mind made up on those targets. The Gunners are straight up flush with cash, but need to up the ante as the market gets moving.

Let’s hope the manager has an ace up his sleeve, something something blah blah a joker.

Yeah!

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Indiegooner

Blogs, you didn’t link to your partner in crime, Gunnerblog’s, Pokerface video?
*dresses up as nun*
Shame. Shame. Shame. Ding Ding Ding.

PDiddy

That wenga-ga pic made me throw up in my mouth. Just a little bit.

Ponsonby gooner

Lads, this summer will finally be the summer we sign Salomon Kalou. I can feel it.

Kevlarbe

Don’t tease!!!!!

moonie

Top comment 😀

Rossi88

Maybe, but I got the overwhelming feeling that we will finally get Lillian Thuram.

Anonymarse

Isn’t he in a wheelchair by now?

Lula da GIlberto

we can all but dream.

Freddy

Being thrifty, crafty, with a poker face is all wonderful.
But we know for a fact that such games are always risky. Why not pay the extra 5-10 Million & get the player we want before the season begins? Why wait until the end for the last minute salon? Looks like we won’t sign anybody before mid-August by the look of it.

Greg

Agree. What’s to stop another club coming in offering what they want and non of this constant fucking around

Bill

It takes three people to transfer a player, you don’t just walk up and say here’s 30 million thanks and walk out of the shop with your player.

Xxxrob

Yup our strategy strikes me as waiting for the river card. Every time lol

Girwhod

Mahrez would be a fantastic signing. No doubt about it. But again it feels like we’re shying away from the striker situation by signing a winger. O

Rob

Excuses, Lacazette can be had with a good bid, there is no chain reaction for a deal like that. I believe he’s not aggressive enough and getting a good deal is more important to him then getting the players in place early for pre season. Ambitious club would have players in early for pre season. Down vote me if you want but I don’t think the ambition is what it should be.

Hunter

Spot on Rob. I’m not seeing alot of poker being played by man utd so far, just going out and putting all their players in place to try to win the league. But this will always be the case while wenger is in charge, hopefully only a year to go * crosses fingers*

Darren

After Gazidis’ comments the other day, I think it can only get worse when Wenger eventually leaves. The board doesn’t seem willing to shell out the money required in the current market, and Wenger has always been thrifty with money. When Higuain is rumoured to be costing 80million, the world has gone crazy, but Arsenal will apparently be one of the clubs that wont follow.

Monkey Nuts

United are panic buying … again.

Gunman

I think the word you’re looking for is ambition.

If Pogba,Mikki, and Ibra are panic buys then I wouldn’t mind Wenger panickingly signing Mahrez and Lacazette rather than kicking back playing poker.

ChrisGoona

Man Utd are the crazy motherfuckers who go all in. I don’t think Arsenal can show their hand so early while knowing other clubs with greater resources are ready and waiting. Not every transfer can be wrapped up early like Xhaka was. It is frustrating, but any bid we put in for a top striker will up the ante and it will be auction style madness. Think about it logically, if you are the selling club, Lyon for example. You know strikers are in high demand, you have a player in Lacazette who is in turn in high demand, top… Read more »

Bendtner's Ego

Not sure if Lacasette is worth buying for big £.

About same height as Walcott, but maybe a bit stronger and probably not as fast. PL center backs are brutes, so I would expect him to have difficulties.

Matt

Vardy’s body is similar, maybe even weaker and look at what he did. Walcott got his sport wrong, he should’ve been a 100mts runner….

A xerioz Gunner

Or playing Harry Potter

PFo

Almost no one is as fast as Walcott. That doesn’t stop many, many, many players from being much better strikers than he is. Lacazette is pretty quick. Plus, he’s better at dribbling, passing, and finishing.

Gunman

La Cassette?

You telling me these are still being manufactured in France?

Rectum_Spectrum

Based on that aguero should have been a complete flop.

thw14

I don’t get it – if we’re looking for one forward and one defender, how is all the buzz about Mahrez and Lacazette. Oh wait, there I go, taking him at face value again…

Andy Mack

Or maybe to think the ‘buzz’ in the media has some truth to it.

Vincent Kompany/Jamie Vardinho

Blogs you’re a fool for that pic hahahaa

Rambling Pete

I’d love us to sign Mahrez, what an exciting player he is. I loved what he did for Leicester last season and if he could do that for us then we’d really compete next season, I’m sure of it. I hope Wenger’s got his cards lined up. I remember years ago playing in a back room poker tournament in East London. There were some really dodgy characters there too, which you would expect at that kind of thing. I was always a mediocre player but I enjoyed the atmosphere of these events. That night things went a big wrong. Mickey… Read more »

Arshavin's fake moustache

Love you, Pete

Dixon's Awesome Own Goal

Welcome back, Pete. It’s been too long.

Neil #2

Can Arseblogs please give Pete a regular column on this blog?

Indian Gooner

Oh! Piss Off mate.. I am getting tired of this bullshit.
It is starting to look like all the other clubs get linked with different players and they end up buying them and we on the other hand are different.. We get linked with different players for fun and end up doing nothing.. We are starting to look like a joke.. You know what I mean.. Yeah?
Fucking do something for godsake..

North Bank Gooner

It’s almost as if the papers are linking us with players we’re not actually interested in to get us to buy papers, and click clickbait……….

Indian Gooner

You know what?
That is all I can do read bullshit and hope..
Because we aren’t doing anything much as it is..

Andy Mack

Or maybe we’re doing what we’ve done for the last 50 years, which is trying to ‘do deals’ in private. Clearly with little success so far this season but we’ve never been a club that does deals in public.

Woolwich Peripatetic

Xhaka? We finished second last season not fifth.

Andy Mack

The point is that we (AFC) do these things in private…

Gutbukket Deffrolla

Hook, line and sinker.

Fuzzy Dunlop

Mahrez (goals and assists), Lacazette (mobile finisher, will stretch the oppo’s defence, something for Ozil to aim for), Manolas/Koulibaly (commanding CB, never again will we concede an Andy Carroll hat trick). All realistic targets and doable for £100-120 million, more goals scored, fewer goals conceded.
Sell Walcott and loan Chambers out to a premier league club to get his development back on track.

Matt

All things an ambitious manager would do; Wenger WILL NEVER do this am afraid.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

So if you’re right, then how many other clubs are also doing this right now? 20? 30? 50? Not just us then? Whoops! There goes the simple fix then.

broken red army

Holding, Asuno and more chances for Walcott. welcome to Arsenal

Gutbukket Deffrolla

I wonder if any other Clubs anywhere in the world have had the same idea as you?

Cracked

I’m not sure about Lacazete, there’s a reason he didn’t make the French squad for the Euros. He’s not that good

Hannibal

Lacazette didn’t make the French squad because Deschamps clearly only wanted a particular type of striker in his squad (in the mould of Giroud), hence the donkey Gignac…

Neil #2

Would have been happy if Gignac’s strike had gone in…..but overall, surprising choice to pass up Lacazette

broken red army

I believe Gameiro and Lacazette were ignored ’cause Dechamps as a little mobile defensive midfielder had always problems facing big heavy strikers while he handled Lacezette type forwards pretty well.

Toby C

I too am getting a bit fed up with this ‘poker’ that we seem to try and play season after season. How many players has it cost us in the past?

I don’t care about value, I want us to go out and sign the players who will win us the league. Whatever the cost.

ChrisGoona

Unfortunately there are a few clubs who are able and are doing this:

“I want us to go out and sign the players who will win us the league. Whatever the cost.”

So if you take out Citeh, Chelski, Barca, Buyern and even now West Ham and the rest, you may be onto something!

Gutbukket Deffrolla

You haven’t even named them, or told us why no other top team is going to throw just as much if not more cash at the same players yet.

Who are the players who will win us the league?

How much money do we have to throw at each of them to guarantee they will come to us?

Paul

I hope Arsene isn’t holding 7 2 off suit again! 🙁

Ndubya5

Arsseblog, would it it be okay to use this extremely traumatic header picture for my twitter profile?

Vielen Dank im Voraus 🙂

Disillusioned Gooner

Handbrake in the transfer market is so very Arsenal.

Papas

I saw Lacazette play against us at the Emirates Cup a couple of years back (there were already noises back then about him joining us) and he did not impress me then as the kind of front man we needed…

Jimbo1

Trouble is that Wenger is not very good at Poker. He often ends up with a busted flush.

Begeegs

He constantly talks about poker while everyone around him is doing business. It makes me think that Wenger means video poker with computer opponents.

Smeirf

Who the hell can take him seriously?
Of course we’ll be all of the sudden linked to some ‘big’ names after that horrible PR accident by Gazidis a few days a go, and that weird statement in the official website after we signed Holding (‘We reamin in the market’, what the hell was that?).

None the less, if that moment of Gazidis’ moment of stupidity will somehow lead us to buying a forward and the defensive addition – I’m all up for it.

Stillmatic

Didn’t we play poker when bidding for Higuain the first time? And also Suarez?

That’s the thing about poker; you can lose it all.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

They never actually wanted to come here. You got taken in by their lies. Players and agents telling lies is a big part of the transfer process. You have to be smart enough to understand that they want what’s best for them, not what’s best for Arsenal.

“We want them”, is not the same as “They want us”.

Ron

Liquor at the front, poker round the back.

Big sheezy

Liquor up front, poker in the rear.

The Great Ex-Priest Tobin

Enough talk, just sign the players we need. Get it done Arsene or get out.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

Yes, sign, um, heck, Great Uncle Tobin seems to have forgotten to tell us who we have to sign. I bet he forgot to tell them that they have to sign for us too.

Cat Biscuits

Never play poker with Arsene.

wellarsed

Why not? I get the impression he might be an easy mark! 🙂

Gutbukket Deffrolla

As proven by the fact that neither Alexis nor Ozil joined Arsenal.

Ehsan

Wenger should 3-bet Leicester from late position who opened from the under the gun and get Mahrez!

Tasmanian Jesus

Mahrez and Lacazette is better than what we got. But i think I’d trust Icardi more to score goals for us. And I still fancy Reus more than Mahrez. but hey, I wouldn’t complain!

Tasmanian Jesus

I forgot, think I rate Aubameyang higher than all the ones I mentioned!

Gutbukket Deffrolla

See? This is how hard it is to work out who we should actually sign.

You waste your time chasing two players and then you realise there are three better ones.

Then the first two find out that you changed your mind so they now hate you.

Then the last three realise you didn’t choose them first so they hate you too.

So now the top five players would rather tear off your left bollock than join your club, so who are you going to sign?

Paul

The problem seems to be Wenger wont bet until he gets pocket Aces by which time the game is over!

Gutbukket Deffrolla

He already bet on Vardy, who changed his mind at the last minute.

Then he bet on Mahrez, who seems to have changed his mind at the last minute.

It’s almost as if he were trying but the players that he wants don’t want to play for Arsenal. Maybe they’re not Gooners.

Luckily he also bet on Xhaka and won his bet.

Andy Mack

I’m not sure we’re actually interested in Mahrez.

Olawale Olayemi

I hate it when people say “down vote me all you like but….”

Say what the fuck you wanna say or shut up. Are you an adult or you feed on upvotes? Down vote me all you like but I’ve said my mind

Sal

Unbelievable how the papers string us along with this shit all summer, year after year…. and Arsene alwys being blamed as if its his fault… he doesn’t sit at a table thumbing through a wad of notes waiting for the striker to nod…. blame Stan… and his consultancy service

Greg

I don’t get how this is stand fault? Money is available and available to spend. It’s aw who isn’t spending it. Is it stans fault we failed to buy an outfield player last season? Is it stans fault our tactics and desire is so poor at times? Andy carol hat trick to name 1 of many examples from last season As though so many on here are prepared to blame everyone and everything other than the man responsible I still shudder at gazidis comments a few years ago re plans and aw. But essentially if aw doesn’t have one them… Read more »

Gutbukket Deffrolla

Rubbish, it’s the players and other clubs that aren’t taking our money. They get the offer.. they think about it… they say no. Who said they were allowed to do that?

I blame you Greg. You didn’t apply for Wenger’s job in 1998. You failed me then. You’re failing me now.

He's got no hair but we don't care...

Seriously? Is he the only manager who does this and in turn treating the most loyal supporters in world football like chumps.

Did maureen or pep talk this cliched bollocks before they bought the players they have already? Nope. Just our manager then.

2012

I shake my head whenever people make comments like this. Please realize that Arsenal aren’t in the same league as these teams financially. For example, a few years ago Arsenal announced proudly that they got a £30m a year Puma contract, for 5 years. Arsenal were back on top. The money were coming in! Problem is, six months later ManU got a £75m a year Adidas contract, for 10 years. No wonder the club has to save up and be selective, while Mourinho and the like spend.

Begeegs

Me too. That £200 million in the bank not including the new Television deal must be a mirage. We are paupers.

I think that the point being that a lot of teams are buying players, not just Man Utd and Man City. Looks at Dortmund and their signings this summer. Are they a team rolling the dough?

broken red army

that amount was a couple of years back the club income and new deals were added. still the interest of that kind of money in economics is crazy and can go up to even 40-50 percent a year (and considering Kroenke, an American businessman is handling that you shouldnt expect otherwise) and lets not forget Highbury’s on going sale, I heard it was built for around £130 millions. in 2009. no body’s considering the big money theyre makjng by that now.

2012

Yes, Dortmund got a good deal with Gotze, but he has a history with them. Others, I am no so Schurrle 😉 Meanwhile they got income from the sell of Mkhitaryan, Hummels, and Gondolas.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

I have a surprise for you.

Not every player in the world want to play in the Premier League, and of the ones that do, not all of them want to play for Arsenal if they can get a place with United, Chelsea or Citeh, or some other team their mate plays at, etc etc etc.

Stillmatic

Erm you do know that a £30m 5-year deal is “only” £15m difference from a £75m 10-year deal, right?

Andy Mack

30m and 75m per year.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

Unless its 75 million each year for 10 years, which is exactly what it was, for a grand total of 750 million. Compared to our 30 million each year for 5 years, for a total of 150 million. Let’s also face facts. 75 million is a starting bid for the best players this summer. 30 million buys you one reasonable player. but a team with more money may pay more for him than he’s really worth, so there are no guarantees you’ll even get the reasonable player you want (and we already have reasonable players. That’s why so many Gooners… Read more »

Todd

It’s because they have more ambition. Example A: we’ll win Bp
B: we’ll win any cup
C:,cl semis or bust

Arsenal will finish 4th, none,and lose as usual in the round of 16. That’s not ambition, that’s safety.

Andy Mack

Where have we finished in the last 2 years (not 4th)?
What cup did we win twice recently?
Do you think not drawing Barca or Bayern may possibly get us a bit further in the CL? We’re not good enough to win the CL but we’d get further with a just a tiny bit of luck with the draw.
Kind of blows your evidence apart there.
There is ambition but maybe not enough of it.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

This sort of deliberately false maths is only done by Spurs fans wanting to take the piss. Your credibility is gone in one idiotic post.

Arsenalnut

I think Solomon Rondon would be a nice addition to the team and an alternative to Giroud. He’s tallish, faster, extremely persistent, 26, and a street fighter like Sanchez. He had a meh season at WBA but was feeding on nasty scraps. His 2014-15 and 2013-14 in Russia were extremely strong. He produces goals. Defenders hate him because he punishes them. He looks to me the best option in the non-world class group. I’m also thinking that since we have not heard anything about Draxler recently he might be a deal in the works. Arsene seems to live on silence… Read more »

Arsenalnut

Was the down vote for Rondon, Draxler, saying something positive about Wenger or a combination?

sauce

You cameback to check votes??

broken red army

just imagine telling your wife that “Im really active finding what you asked” couple of days and yes, you cant even fool them for a couple of days. Arsenal fans on the other hand…

BODMAS

So everybody want Mahrez but I thought it was Draxler first. Wenger don’t know which one to go for like the fans also.

Andy Mack

Or possibly you have too much belief in what the newspapers say.

wellarsed

Actually, it seems as if Arsenal are the only club with “the handbrake on” – other clubs seem to be completing deals to strengthen their squads, avoiding the late-window poker game of which Wenger is so keen.

Mootilated

Handbrake on? Juventus just sealed a 94m deal for Higuain after purchasing Pjaca and Dani Alves, BvB bought Mario Gotze and Andre Schurrle, Chelsea bought N’Golo Kante, Liverpool bought Wijnaldum… That’s all in the past week. Can’t see much handbraking from the other top clubs…

Andy Mack

You and some of the media know the Higuaín deal is done, but the clubs and player seem to think nothing is done yet… Please tell us more.

Mootilated

Yeah. It’s pretty much done.

Andy Mack

OK, thanks for that. Can we quote you as ‘The Source’?
Any other interesting transfer facts you can tell us?

Mootilated

So, you’re telling me that after multiple concrete reports of Gonzalo Higuain having and completing a medical, you still don’t believe that it is going to happen?

Andy Mack

There’s no such thing as a ‘Concrete report’. they just write enough shit that occasionally they get one correct, as we’ve seen the majority of times. If this does happen then it’ll be a pure coincidence that the papers got it right.

heihaci

Mahrez, Lacazette and Koulibali please
Then Walcott flogged to some chinese club for 50 million

heihaci

i will cry if we sign Van Persie on loan

Gutbukket Deffrolla

He’s shit. Why would we sign an over-the-hill permacrock?

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