An interview with Tony Adams has appeared in the wake of Arsenal’s victory over Montpelier last night, in which he brings out the usual ex-player adages about being “concerned” about Arsenal “becoming a selling club”, and also says that Arsenal will not win the Champions League “with their current mentality.

It was a rather strange interview for a number of reasons.

Out of date

The former Arsenal defender also produced the usual criticism of Arsenal’s defending and general set up of the team while off the ball. While this would have made sense last year, it’s clear things are a bit different right now. Especially noticeable was his comment that Arsenal do not “defend as a team” while Chelsea do, and “that’s why they won the Champions League”. Again, it seems quite obvious now that Arsenal do defend as a team.

It’s almost as if Adams hasn’t seen Arsenal playing this year, and it may be that the interview was given in April or during the off-season, and has only been published now in the hope of dredging up some negative feeling about Arsenal, which has been in short supply of late.

Bitter

When asked about his future in management, Tony Adams stated he wants “the Arsenal job, or nothing”. That’s fairly commendable, although his credentials aren’t exactly solid, with a stint as assistant as Portsmouth all that really springs to mind. He also commented “Though not as the moment, as we’ve got a great manager who’s busy selling all our best players”.

Whether you agree or not, that’s quite a low statement from a famous fan of the club. Arsenal’s relationship with Adams has always been excellent, but his relationship with Arsenal hasn’t been the same. It’s worth pointing out that a number of the “old guard” who were eventually ousted by Wenger when he came in harbour similar opinions, such as Paul Merson.

So, an interesting interview, but with a few points that don’t seem quite right.

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