Arsène Wenger believes all managers are forced to to "go blind and play poker" when signing players because they cannot know everything about their problems outside football.
The Arsenal boss was talking in the light of Marlon King’s prison sentence for breaking a young woman's nose outside a nightclub.
The incident raised a national debate about the behaviour of some footballers, accused of arrogantly believing the exorbitant salaries and celebrity status they enjoy are enough to place them above the laws that apply to regular citizens.
"You can't be in management as long as I have and not have that dilemma," Wenger told the News of the World.
"I can give you a list of big names who I have faced this problem with. It is not always because they are bad guys, it can be because they are sometimes weak guys.
"They go out and they don't know where to stop. They do not master their life. In London it's impossible to keep track of a player's every move.
"Let's say you have a guy who drinks. He can drink at home, so how can you control that? He can have parties at home. Twenty years ago, the players went to the pub on a Tuesday and so on but now it's not so public.
"In ideal conditions no boss would make a mistake. It was always a race against time with opponents who may also want to sign the player.
"Sometimes you have to go blind and play poker."
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The Arsenal boss was talking in the light of Marlon King’s prison sentence for breaking a young woman's nose outside a nightclub.
The incident raised a national debate about the behaviour of some footballers, accused of arrogantly believing the exorbitant salaries and celebrity status they enjoy are enough to place them above the laws that apply to regular citizens.
"You can't be in management as long as I have and not have that dilemma," Wenger told the News of the World.
"I can give you a list of big names who I have faced this problem with. It is not always because they are bad guys, it can be because they are sometimes weak guys.
"They go out and they don't know where to stop. They do not master their life. In London it's impossible to keep track of a player's every move.
"Let's say you have a guy who drinks. He can drink at home, so how can you control that? He can have parties at home. Twenty years ago, the players went to the pub on a Tuesday and so on but now it's not so public.
"In ideal conditions no boss would make a mistake. It was always a race against time with opponents who may also want to sign the player.
"Sometimes you have to go blind and play poker."
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