As one of a select few to have a statue of himself outside the Emirates Stadium, Tony Adams is an Arsenal legend in every sense. A central defender, Adams joined the Gunners as a youngster in 1980, making his debut for the senior side three years later at just 17 years old.
Adams would spend his entire career–at every level–with Arsenal. Just over four years after his debut, Adams was appointed as club captain, a position he would hold until his retirement in 2002. Along with being one of his era’s best defenders, Adams is still fondly remembered for his leadership qualities.
The defender won four league titles with the Gunners, as well as three FA Cups, two League Cups and a European Cup Winners’ Cup in his 19-year career. Back in 2015, Adams spoke to Sky Sports and picked his #One2Eleven, a squad made up of the best players he played with across his illustrious career. Having chosen a 4-4-1-1 formation, which figures did Adams choose?
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David Seaman
Goalkeeper
David Seaman towards the end of his Arsenal career gives his teammate a thumbs up.
The first of many Arsenal players to, rather unsurprisingly, feature in Adams’ team, David Seaman enjoyed a 13-year stint in North London that stretched across the 1990s and into the early 2000s. It can be easy to forget that Seaman was a well-established shot-stopper at the time of his arrival, given how long he spent with the Gunners.
“We have people like Peter Shilton and Pat Jennings, but I've gone for David Seaman because I see him regularly and he would kill me otherwise! He was like Pat and I have always preferred a calm goalkeeper who just goes about their business.”
Seaman was a key part of one of Arsenal’s best-ever defences and crucial in helping the club lift three league titles throughout his tenure there. A 75-time England international, Seaman was one of England's greatest-ever goalkeepers and his inclusion in Adams’ list is more than understandable.
Lee Dixon
Right-back
Lee Dixon Arsenal
Lee Dixon had quite a nomadic start to his footballing career, representing Burnley, Chester City, Bury and Stoke City within the first six years of his time as a professional. His form with Stoke saw the Gunners come calling in 1988, where Dixon finally found a home in football. The would-be England international spent the rest of his career with Arsenal, playing for them for 14 years.
“If we are talking (about) individuals, I have got to go for Viv Anderson. If I am talking about a unit then it's Dixon. When he first came to the club he got forward a lot and put in a lot of crosses, then he developed with experience. He made himself a player in a similar way (to Gary Neville).”
Though it took time for Dixon to break into the first team, there was no dislodging him when he did. Playing in a defensive side in a defensive era of football, Dixon received praise for not only his contributions to that, but the marauding runs he made forward, something that was far less common then than it is now.
Steve Bould
Centre-back
Steve Bould
In 1988, Lee Dixon was not the only Stoke City defender that moved to North London, with Steve Bould also departing the Potters for Highbury that same year. Bould had established himself as a strong defender with his hometown club, but with Arsenal found his reputation bolstered ten-fold.
“It is so difficult to just win the ball and give it simple. There is an art in it and I was never like that as I wanted to go and score the goals and go into midfield and smash one in, I could just not stay there! It was incredibly frustrating under George's era as I wanted to play and get involved in training, but no, I had to go and do my job and Bouldy did that. He would take the lead and I would float around.”
Bould spent 11 years with the Gunners, making two appearances for the England national team in 1994 as a testament to the form he showed with Arsenal as a crucial part of one of their best-ever defences.
Tony Adams
Centre-back
Tony Adams
“Can I just go (with) Dixon, Bould, Winterburn just for longevity? Let's put me in as I just want to get over that with those four it is all about togetherness and the best back four I have ever played in as a unit.
"So, the sum of the parts is definitely better than the parts as I know individually even Viv, Kenny (Sansom) and Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell - you put them on their own, if you do a one versus one with Thierry Henry with these players, Thierry Henry is going to get past you. But I can guarantee you he would not get past the four of us, so Dixon, Bould, Adams and Winterburn!”
By Adams’ own humble words, he has included himself in his team, but only due to the impact he made with his fellow defenders as part of that Arsenal backline across the 1990s.
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Nigel Winterburn
Left-back
Nigel Winterburn - Arsenal
After failing to break into the first teams of either Birmingham City or Oxford United, Nigel Winterburn moved to Wimbledon in 1983 where he finally started to make a mark in English football. An ever-present part of the team, Winterburn’s form with Wimbledon not only earned him a call up to the England under-21s, but a move to Arsenal in 1987.
“You have Ashley Cole who I thought was one of the world's best, but I want to say Nigel because the sum of the parts is always going to be better than some of these individuals. It just shows that good club men with the right organisation can become great players. Stuart Pearce was very similar to Gary Neville and Nigel, they were good, honest, strong full-backs that did fantastic jobs.”
Winterburn spent 13 years with Arsenal, being their first-choice left-back for over a decade before departing the club in 2000, his legacy as a Gunner having been firmly established.
David Beckham
Right midfield
DavidBeckham-1
The only player in Adams’ team to have not played for Arsenal, David Beckham is one of England’s most iconic footballers, for his impact both on and off the pitch. Famed for his ball-striking technique, brilliance from set pieces and general ability, the wide midfielder predominantly turned out for Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan in a star-studded career.
“I really struggled with right-hand side players. I was thinking about putting (Glenn) Hoddle or Gazza (Paul Gascoigne) there but I've gone for David Beckham because of his delivery work rate for the team. I want someone like him instead of Gazza because you know he's going to be there for 40 games a season delivering like that and working like that.”
Beckham, who is one of the best Brits to have played abroad, spent four years with Adams in the England national team, with the wide player debuting for his country in 1996, four years before Adams retired from international duty after the Euros in 2000.
Emmanuel Petit
Central midfield
Emmanuel Petit points during his Arsenal days.
Photo courtesy of Reuters.
Emmanuel Petit only spent three years with Arsenal, which may be easy to forget. Given the impact he made as a player during his time in North London, it’s fair to assume he was there for far longer than he was in actuality. Petit spent the first nine years of his career with Monaco, where he first worked with a certain Arsene Wenger, who brought him to Arsenal in 1997.
“This is the easy bit. Petit could run all day, he was a strong boy and very good technically. With him in front of me it was literally just a cigar every day, no wonder I was running up the field scoring goals! He played as a central defender at Monaco and he was just comfortable in every position. Having someone that strong in front of the defence stops so many goals.”
Petit won the Premier League and FA Cup in his debut season with Arsenal, having a significant impact on the team with his effective style of defending. A move to Barcelona, that would prove ill-fated, came for Petit in 2000, but what happened from there does not take away from how good he was as an Arsenal player.
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Patrick Vieira
Central midfield
Arsenal's Patrick Vieira celebrates scoring against Tottenham.
Now a manager who has worked in Ligue 1, the Premier League and currently Serie A with Genoa, Patrick Vieira is still regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, having enjoyed an 18-year career as a footballer. The Frenchman spent almost a decade with Arsenal, being a crucial cog in the club’s success in the first half of Wenger’s reign as manager.
“I'm going to go with Patrick with Petit because they brought out the best in me. They were the perfect balance and the perfect blend, they gave me magnificent protection and could also get forward, play and create goals.
“He was a wonderful footballer: strong, 6ft 3in and you speak about both (Viera and Petit) in the same category.”
As Adams touched on, Vieira was partner to the aforementioned Petit, with the two forming one of the world’s best midfields during their relatively short time with each other. Vieira would stay at Arsenal for five further years after Petit’s departure, serving as captain of the famous Invincibles side in the 2003/04 season.
Robert Pires
Left midfield
Robert Pires with his arms wide in celebration for Arsenal
Photo courtesy of Reuters.
One of the greatest players in Arsenal’s history as a club, Robert Pires moved to England after almost a decade of playing in his native France. Joining the Gunners in the year 2000, Pires was an immediate starter and though it took him some time to adapt to the English game, it was more than worth the brief wait.
“I think he could run quicker with the ball than I could without it! He had an unbelievably low centre of gravity. He could just play and he's got the trophy cabinet.
“I said to him when he first came: ‘Listen, this is a tough league. You need application and training every day.’ He just took all that on board.”
Pires departed Arsenal in 2006 after failing to negotiate a new contract with the club. Before doing so, however, the French international helped the North London side win two Premier League titles and two FA Cups, while also reaching the Champions League final in the year of his departure.
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Dennis Bergkamp
Attacking midfield
Dennis Bergkamp - Arsenal
Realistically, there was no other choice at the number 10 for Tony Adams. An Arsenal player for over a decade, Dennis Bergkamp joined the Gunners in 1995 after a short stint with Inter Milan. The Dutchman would retire with Arsenal 11 years later, with Bergkamp going down as one of Arsenal's best-ever players.
“I'm going to go for Dennis, I can't play without Dennis!
“The only grief I had with Dennis was just before we won the league in '98 and we were at Middlesbrough away and I said: "Look, with all the talent you've got and you've not won anything, doesn't that hurt you?"
“I could see it kind of did, and I think it got a bit of a reaction out of him. I do believe me and Bouldy in tackling and in training gave him a bit of tenacity that he needed. He needed to want it a little bit more, but he was tremendously gifted.”
Bergkamp was predominantly deployed as a second striker by Wenger, which allowed him to fully utilise his natural creativity while playing alongside the likes of Ian Wright, Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry. Bergkamp helped Arsenal reach the Champions League final in his last season as a player, having already won three Premier League titles and three FA Cups prior to that.
Thierry Henry
Striker
Thierry Henry Arsenal
One of the greatest forwards of all time, Thierry Henry is still regarded as a legend in the red side of North London and rightly so. Henry moved to North London in 1999 after a brief and uneventful stint with Juventus. Henry would spend the next eight years of his career with Arsenal, eventually becoming their all-time top-scorer with 228 goals.
“You've got Alan Smith who got two Golden Boots and Ian Wright who also scored a hatful in a defensive team. Maybe if Wrighty was there in a different era he would have got more than Thierry Henry.
“I saw Henry before the 1998 World Cup and he was playing left-wing, and even Arsene couldn't have seen what he would develop into as a centre forward.
“Naturally because he played left-wing all those years he naturally slipped to that side and came up with that right-foot finish. It was always natural for him and he must have got about 50 goals just doing that move!”
Henry is still fondly remembered by Arsenal fans almost 20 years after his initial departure from the club, as the French international helped the Gunners win two Premier League titles and three FA Cups before joining Barcelona in 2007.
( All stats are fromTransfermarktand are correct as of 18/03/2025 )
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