Dave Adams: Lecturer to Premier League coach - the man behind the 'Welsh Way'

He was sat adjacent to Craig Bellamy connected nan time he was unveiled arsenic Wales’ caller men’s caput coach and alongside Rhian Wilkinson erstwhile she first addressed nan media arsenic Wales women’s boss.

Followers of Welsh shot will astir apt person seen Dave Adams moreover if they do not cognize who he is.

They will besides person seen nan results of his work, arsenic Adams is arguably doing arsenic overmuch arsenic anyone to style nan early of shot successful Wales.

As nan Football Association of Wales’ main shot officer, Adams has a wide remit which fundamentally intends he is responsible for nan men’s and women’s crippled astatine each levels successful nan country.

He is nan man who leads nan assignment process for coaches of Wales’ elder men’s and women’s teams, drafting up shortlists and interviewing candidates earlier recommending them to nan FAW’s executives and boards.

So it was for Adams, for example, that Bellamy had prepared a tactical position connected nan Wales squad during his question and reply astatine Burnley’s training crushed this summer.

“He had a large surface and a strategies committee adjacent to it, truthful he's dancing betwixt his descent deck, talking done keynotes and visuals of nan team,” Adams tells BBC Sport Wales.

“Then he’s jumping connected to nan strategies committee and talking done really nan squad looks, truthful it was a really absorbing process.

“And though you want to inquire system questions, you want to inquire questions which conscionable springiness them an opportunity to waste themselves. You don't want it to beryllium excessively general successful that sense.

“Rhian’s ace spot is astir apt her leadership. I deliberation her spot is making decisions, not being personification that's going to overthink things excessively much.

“You’ve sewage to make decisions, you’ve sewage to make them now, truthful what came crossed pinch Rhian was that she'd beryllium beardown and she'd beryllium capable to deed nan crushed moving pinch this team.”

Choosing nan group who lead Wales’ elder world teams is simply a weighty responsibility; Adams and those he appoints are yet judged connected whether aliases not they suffice for awesome tournaments.

He besides has to guarantee that everything is successful spot to nurture nan adjacent procreation of players, from identifying young talents, to providing them pinch a way to nan highest echelons of nan game.

It is simply a occupation pinch a immense brief, and a domiciled to which Adams has taken a agelong and unconventional route.

Born successful Haverfordwest, Adams dreamt of playing professionally but, while studying sports subject astatine what is now known arsenic Cardiff Metropolitan University, realised his champion chance of a profession successful shot was done coaching.

After graduating, Adams mixed his first occupation arsenic a shot improvement serviceman successful Merthyr Tydfil pinch studying for his Uefa coaching badges.

Then while he was a teacher arsenic nan University of South Wales, Adams worked alongside erstwhile Wales adjunct leader Osian Roberts successful processing nan FAW’s highly-regarded coaching courses – which count Mikel Arteta and Thierry Henry among their graduates.

With his ft successful nan FAW door, he began coaching immoderate of Wales’ age-grade and women’s teams astir nan aforesaid clip Gary Speed was implementing betterment arsenic head of nan men’s elder side.

A move to then-Premier League Swansea City, arsenic caput of coaching, followed successful 2014, pinch Adams temporarily taking complaint of nan first squad erstwhile Garry Monk was dismissed.

Adams later followed Monk to Middlesbrough successful 2017 but, erstwhile Roberts near nan FAW successful 2019, he rejoined nan relation arsenic method director.

“I conscionable felt nan stars aligned, that this could beryllium nan cleanable domiciled for maine successful position of what I'd done before,” Adams says of nan position which has developed to go main shot officer.

“I beryllium successful nan mediate of a instrumentality of group – nationalist squad caput coaches – and I effort and support nan instrumentality rolling and moving successful nan correct direction.

“I'm benignant of nan conduit to make judge that we support moving our high-performance strategy forwards and we person clear goals nether each of our pillars.”

The pillars Adams mentions are nan 4 cardinal tenets of his occupation and, arsenic nan 44-year-old explains, he manages these elements by moving pinch various heads of section astatine nan FAW.

1. Talent recognition and retention

Adams describes this arsenic “a large portion of my role”, moving alongside Gus Williams, nan FAW’s nationalist talent recognition manager.

“It’s identifying nan astir talented players that are Welsh eligible, and past retaining them,” Adams says.

“This is becoming much and much challenging because much and much players are dual-eligible.”

Wales’ men’s and women’s elder teams exemplify nan worth of this peculiar facet, pinch respective dual-eligible players successful some squads.

On nan men’s side, nan likes of Brennan Johnson and Ethan Ampadu could person represented different countries, while women’s players specified arsenic Hayley Ladd and Ceri Holland committed to Wales contempt being eligible to play for rival nations.

2. Effective pathways for progression

Richard Williams, nan FAW’s caput of subordinate development, plays a starring domiciled pinch this purpose to “ensure a clear and accordant pathway for our world younker players done to nan Welsh nationalist team”.

That intends players are identified early – nan FAW girls’ academy, for example, starts astatine 12 years aged – and fixed a clear way done age-grade sides correct up to elder teams.

“You create a civilization and an situation wherever nan players consciousness comfortable, they bask it,” says Adams.

“If you do those things really well, you've sewage nan champion imaginable chance of retaining talent successful your system. And we've done that exceptionally good pinch players for illustration Jordan James, Ethan Ampadu, Dan James.”

3. Support services

These are areas specified arsenic spot and conditioning, aesculapian services and sports analysis.

Leading these FAW departments are caput of capacity Ryland Morgans, aesculapian work head Sean Connelly and caput of capacity study Esther Wills.

Adams says: “I judge if you supply nan correct support services to nan individual, that besides ensures that you create a high-performance environment.”

4. Coaching system

“Our coach acquisition strategy is world-renowned,” Adams says.

You tin spot why erstwhile you see nan likes of Arteta, Henry, Roberto Martinez and Patrick Vieira person studied for their coaching badges pinch nan FAW.

“But arsenic overmuch arsenic we want to amended group formally, we besides recognise that informally you person to besides create internally really your ain unit operate,” Adams adds.

“So things for illustration our Welsh Way, our nationalist curriculum, making judge there's alignment crossed each nan different teams, making judge nan coaches are group up for success.”

The thought holding each these concepts together is what nan FAW calls nan Welsh Way.

That encompasses everything from elder world teams to grassroots; principles for a style of play, but besides a imagination for shot successful Wales, really to thief thrust nan maturation of nan crippled and foster a nationalist pridefulness successful representing your country.

And it was pinch each this successful mind that Adams chose Bellamy and Wilkinson.

“If you're successful nine football, style of play is easy because you enlistee players for nan style of play and truthful each your information and analytics are looking astatine players successful nan marketplace that suit that circumstantial style,” says Adams.

“It's a small spot much analyzable for Wales successful nan consciousness we're not recruiting players who play a definite DNA. They each travel from various clubs crossed various environments.

“So I deliberation you request a coach who's tactically flexible. You want to understand from either speaking to them aliases utilizing information that they person that capacity to beryllium pragmatic aliases agile. If they are very group connected an nonstop measurement of playing, possibly that isn't suitable to world football.

“You besides person to recognise that successful Wales we've been successful pinch nan exemplary of group who person a relationship to Wales. On some sides, we’ve sewage Craig Bellamy who couldn't beryllium immoderate much passionately Welsh and Rhian Wilkinson possibly isn't from Wales, but she's sewage connections to Wales.

“So I deliberation it's important you person a really clear thought astir what you're looking for.”

That clear imagination has sewage Adams to this position and helped Wales’ men suffice for 2 European Championships and a World Cup successful nan past 8 years.

Now nan purpose is to bring further – and successful nan women’s case, historical – occurrence to Wales.

“My domiciled is to make judge each of those things usability efficaciously truthful we're group up for occurrence successful nan agelong term, and we tin activity towards our extremity of consistently qualifying to awesome tournaments,” Adams says.

“That is what I'm trying to execute successful my domiciled arsenic main shot officer.”