Arsenal: Tony Adams clearly has no clue what Unai Emery’s for

Tony Adams has stated that Unai Emery is ‘irrelevant’. He clearly has no clue what the role of the new Arsenal Head Coach is for, then.

Arsene Wenger was the last of a generation. Like Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, who departed five years ago, Wenger was an all-powerful manager at Arsenal. There was no aspect of the club that he did not have an influence on, for better or worse.

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But as the game has grown, the avenues down which it has traversed have diversified, and the structures have complicated, the rise of the expert has come. The all-seeing manager has been usurped; the continental model of a team of coaches, personnel managers, executives and directors is here to stay.

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And indeed, in Wenger’s leaving this summer, Arsenal have duly taken the plunge: Unai Emery, when officially announced as Le Prof’s successor, was named as ‘Head Coach’, a title that is immensely significant. But for some, that role is ‘irrelevant’. Here is former captain Tony Adams, the only man to have won league titles in three different decades as team captain, speaking to StarSport on the new structure at the club at which he is a legend:

"“Your head coach is irrelevant. You are only as good as your recruitment. It’s all about getting the right players in this game. We’re going to have two see if the guys Ivan Gazidis has brought in are good in that market <…> Ivan Gazidis never had to make a decision but now he’s having to. He’s let a lot of people go. He realises it’s not been good enough and now maybe he’s doing something about it. I think these people need to be more accountable, step up and do their stuff.”"

I understand what Adams is trying to say: A manager, or head coach, to be accurate, is nothing without his players, and it is in the acquisition of talent that great teams are built. And to some extent, his sentiment does carry some value. Wenger, for instance, has always extolled the virtues and necessity of players, saying that the game is about players, not managers.

But that does not make Emery ‘irrelevant’; it is not a black and white issue. There is a degree, a spectrum, of relevancy. Just because Emery has less control than Wenger had, does not mean that he is suddenly unable to enact any of his ideas with any genuine and sustained impact. That’s nonsensical.

Moreover, we have seen a myriad of ‘head coaches’ transform their teams, and not necessarily through recruitment. Pep Guardiola has improved players that were already at Manchester City; Mauricio Pochettino has revolutionised Spurs with a fresh, progressive culture; Jurgen Klopp is doing the very same at Liverpool. Admittedly, these clubs are investing in the transfer window and changing their player personnel, but the head coach is still having an influence on the club and the team.

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That is what Emery at Arsenal to do: to work with the talent that Sven Mislintat provide him, talent that he will undoubtedly have his say on before they arrive in north London. That is not an ‘irrelevant’ role. I’m not quite sure that Adams understands what Emery is for.