Sorry to sound big-headed.”There were some pretty rough days under Graham Taylor, too, though I always gave England everything. It was also at a time when George was coming to the end at Arsenal Players sensed he had lost it A lot of the team was getting old. In my opinion, he had concentrated too much on the first team and not on players coming through. I was gutted when he went but I can’t say it came as a shock.”Terry Venables was the coach Adams most admired “The most knowledgeable in the country,” he says “And he was so interested in what I thought. He showed that we do have the talent, despite all the knocking.

He proved that all we need is the knowledge.”Both enjoyed their sweetest moment. Ridiculed after being tormented by Marco Van Basten’s hat-trick in the 3-1 defeat by the Dutch at Euro 88, Adams revelled in the 4-1 victory at Wembley eight years later.HE sat down with his Arsenal team-mates one morning in September to tell them of his alcoholism “It was a relief,” says Adams “I didn’t have to go out and drink with them any more. I didn’t have to organise the Tuesday club in weeks when we weren’t playing on a Wednesday. They didn’t know I had a Monday club of my own.”I can’t paint footballers all the same but a lot of us never grow up. You come straight out of school into a macho lads’ environment You don’t have to learn about life It’s escapism and ego.

Some of the boys may think I am an oddball or a weirdo and they make jokes but I also think there’s a lot of respect It doesn’t matter anyway I did it for me.”The football has come back very quickly I have just worked the recovery programme of AA into it. I just do my bit, my best; I don’t get all the anxiety about games any more. I’m bothered about winning obviously, because it’s a better feeling than losing. Bruce Rioch helped me through my darkest days and now Arsene Wenger is the right man at the right time.

When his appointment was announced, I thought, ‘Who is this Frenchman? Who does he think he is?’ At first I wanted to get away, to move clubs Negatives, negatives, negatives But something told me to give him a chance. He has been very understanding towards me and he is approachable, bright and humorous. His training is excellent – quality rather than quantity.”Under him, leaner and fitter, Adams has prospered anew, being recalled, as captain, for his 46th cap for England in Georgia and striding forward for Arsenal as his early career promised, a volleyed goal against Tottenham the picture of the change. “It’s not that the manager has told me to get forward; more that I want to and he hasn’t stopped me.”It is a result of change off the field that sees him content to walk his dog, go to AA meetings and study for an English Literature GCSE “I used to be afraid of dying, of flying, my career ending I was ruled by fear Not any more.

I have been searching for something and I feel I am finding it It’s about being comfortable with me. I used to worry about how I would get a buzz without football, without drink Now I just want to seize the day And that’s a wonderful, wonderful place to be. Whether I win anything again or not, I feel I am a winner anyway.”A few days after our cappuccino rush, Adams phones me “You won’t make me sound goody-goody will you?” he asks He can still get down and be moody, he says. He knows there is still much to address as he goes through a divorce and seeks to be a more attentive father to his three children. He is a sick person trying to get well rather than a bad person trying to get good “I’ll try and make it real,” I reply “Real,” he ponderers “That’s what this is all about Trying to find the real Tony Adams.”c Independent on Sunday. WAYNE McCULLOUGH, the Belfast super-bantamweight who failed in his bid for Daniel Zaragoza’s World Boxing Council title in Boston last weekend, would do well to study the example of Larry Holmes, 21 years his senior and still going strong.