Tony Adams: Sorry Arsene, but George Graham was a much better coach than you

After a short-lived spell as boss at Portsmouth, a club on the brink of meltdown, Adams has travelled 2,500 miles to reboot his career at Azerbaijan's Gabala – and it is clear he is modelling himself more on Graham’s frugal methods than Wenger’s fantasy idealism.

He said: “We kept 21 clean sheets in 32 games last season, including 11 on the spin, which I believe is the 89th best in the history of football.

“Good back four, everyone behind the ball, good at set plays, very George Graham. No disrespect to Arsene, but George’s coaching ability, defensive structure and technical ability, for me, is far better.

“No injustice to Arsene, but it’s his strength, and that was George’s particular strength.They say coaches are the best thieves and I think he stole it off Terry Venables.

“I think Arsene Wenger is a magnificent physiologist and psychologist. Those are the areas where he excels. He’s a lovely man and he has the respect of all the players he’s ever worked with.

“George was an outstanding coach – I think I won six or seven trophies under him, including the Cup Winners' Cup against Parma with a team including Ian Selley and David Hillier in midfield and Steve Morrow at the back.

“You kind of think the guy has got something.

"That back four – Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn and myself - doesn’t happen by luck. We worked hard on organisation. Morning and afternoon. We hated George for it, but we were on top of our game and we reaped the benefits.

“We won the League in 1989 and 1991 but we should have done so much more – we under-achieved with that squad.

“I’ve been working at my job in Azerbaijan and when I came back at Christmas, during our winter break, I went to the Man City game at the Emirates and it was great looking at the madness back in England – the greed, the fear and the managers’ average shelf life of one year, three months.

“More than 50 coaches have lost their jobs in English football since I went to Azerbaijan.

"I love the anonymity and I don’t think working in England is for me – apart from the Arsenal.”