The pillars Adams mentions are the four key tenets of his job and, as the 44-year-old explains, he manages these elements by working with various heads of department at the FAW.
1. Talent identification and retention
Adams describes this as “a big part of my role”, working alongside Gus Williams, the FAW’s national talent identification manager.
“It’s identifying the most talented players that are Welsh eligible, and then retaining them,” Adams says.
“This is becoming more and more challenging because more and more players are dual-eligible.”
Wales’ men’s and women’s senior teams illustrate the value of this particular facet, with several dual-eligible players in both squads.
On the men’s side, the likes of Brennan Johnson and Ethan Ampadu could have represented other countries, while women’s players such as Hayley Ladd and Ceri Holland committed to Wales despite being eligible to play for rival nations.
2. Effective pathways for progression
Richard Williams, the FAW’s head of player development, plays a leading role with this aim to “ensure a clear and consistent pathway for our international youth players through to the Welsh national team”.
That means players are identified early – the FAW girls’ academy, for example, starts at 12 years old – and given a clear route through age-grade sides right up to senior teams.
“You create a culture and an environment where the players feel comfortable, they enjoy it,” says Adams.
“If you do those things really well, you’ve got the best possible chance of retaining talent in your system. And we’ve done that exceptionally well with players like Jordan James, Ethan Ampadu, Dan James.”
3. Support services
These are areas such as strength and conditioning, medical services and sports analysis.
Leading these FAW departments are head of performance Ryland Morgans, medical service manager Sean Connelly and head of performance analysis Esther Wills.
Adams says: “I believe if you provide the right support services to the individual, that also ensures that you create a high-performance environment.”
4. Coaching system
“Our coach education system is world-renowned,” Adams says.
You can see why when you consider the likes of Arteta, Henry, Roberto Martinez and Patrick Vieira have studied for their coaching badges with the FAW.
“But as much as we want to educate people formally, we also recognise that informally you have to also develop internally how your own staff operate,” Adams adds.
“So things like our Welsh Way, our national curriculum, making sure there’s alignment across all the different teams, making sure the coaches are set up for success.”
