Arsenal: Tony Adams hits on crucial, understated point

Tony Adams has stated that Alex Iwobi and Jack Wilshere are the future of Arsenal because they have come through the academy. He hits on a crucial and understated point: Love for the club makes a difference.

As football becomes an increasingly distant from the normal world, the motivations of players are more and more selfish. Money has diluted the principles of the sport, as it would anyone who earns who such inordinate amounts of money at such a young age.

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And Arsenal have experienced this in recent history. Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie have all divorced from the club because of personal disputes with players and managers.

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Such motivational and commitment issues have again come to the fore this season with Mesut Ozil. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, and his body language and on-pitch behaviour lacking in energy and impetus, there have been significant suggestions that Ozil is no longer committed to the club. And Tony Adams went one step further, comparing Ozil’s motivations to that of those players who have come through the academy:

"“I’d like him to play even more, to be in the starting XI more often <…> He’s got the history of the club at heart, coming through the youth system. You’d like to think that he has got some kind of emotional attachment to the club. We bought Ozil and these players. That’s great, some people settle really well and do marvellous things for the club. But players like Jack and Alex Iwobi that came from the academy just feel more for the club. It was like that in 1989, when we had six of us in the side.”"

And his comments do pick up on a point that is quite important. Players like Jack Wilshere and Alex Iwobi have a more unnatural and innate commitment to the club that few other players possess. Because of the longevity that they have, the relationship that they have built with the fans, and the entrenchment in the culture and the atmosphere, there is a greater desire to fight for the team.

While players like Ozil may have great qualities that are unique and rare, they are replaceable. He may be an extremely gifted player, but as Adams alludes to, they come and go. It is the bedrock of the squad of players that have been with the team for years and years and years that title-winning sides cultures are built on. Arsenal do not have that culture.

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In terms of sheer ability, they have players capable of winning the league. But in terms of culture, they do not. That is the point that Adams is getting at, and it is often understated, and yet crucial.