Spending two days in an almost empty hotel together in remote Gabala, Azerbaijan, meant Tony Adams and Martin Keown had plenty of time to get nostalgic. Here, the Arsenal legends talk to Alex Kay about annoying habits, David Rocastle's sight and the best teenager they have ever seen...

ALEX KAY: You two have known each other since you were kids. What are your earliest memories of playing together?

TONY ADAMS: There was a funny night when we were sharing a room in France when we were with the England Under 18s. Martin turned to me as we were trying to get to sleep and said, 'Stop touching me'. But I wasn't and he got all freaked out and put the light on to check if there was someone else in there.

MARTIN KEOWN: I'm telling you there was something in there, a ghost! Something was touching me. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat - all I had was bread rolls and orange juice all week.
Back in tandem: Keown (left) and Adams reminisce in Azerbaijan

Back in tandem: Keown (left) and Adams reminisce in Azerbaijan

ADAMS: And later, when you roomed with Matthew Upson, you took off your watch before going to sleep, put it on the table in between your two beds and told him to use the light on it if he wanted to go to the toilet. Hilarious. You had a new watch and you were so proud of it.

KEOWN: I didn't want him switching the main light on when I was sleeping, that was all. Who you roomed with was important. Remember that time in France when I was so sick I almost died?

ADAMS: We were in bunks and he was moaning, 'I'm really not well. I'm not good', but we were a bunch of lads and kept telling him to shut up. The physio told him to eat something and then, all of a sudden, he threw up. Your appendix burst, we almost lost you and you had to be wheeled on to the plane.

KEOWN: Yeah, you lot went off to train on the third day and I couldn't stand up. I thought I was dying. I was trying to tell the locals: 'This is it, the end for me, I need a doctor', and finally I got one. Once it bursts you have 36 hours to live.

ADAMS: We just thought you were messing about.

KEOWN: I was in a wheelchair, lost three stone, was in hospital for two weeks and then it got infected. What I also remember about being in France was your mum and dad coming out to support you in a camper van. What a long way and what a nice thing to do.

KAY: Were you competitive, vying to get into the team at Arsenal?

ADAMS: We still are. We drove each other on.

KEOWN: They tried to push us apart, though. They used to tell us that you can't play two kids in the team and I think that was a mistake. The first time we played together in the first team was away at Sheffield Wednesday, in a three with David O'Leary. I'd been on loan to Brighton and you made your debut, then I came back and made mine. They had a trial to decide who was going to play.
Golden days: Tony Adams and Martin Keown at Arsenal

Golden days: Tony Adams and Martin Keown at Arsenal

ADAMS: But then I got injured, so I didn't play for a bit.

KEOWN: Steve Burtenshaw (first team coach) told me, 'There's no two centre halves I'd rather play together than you up and down the country'. At that stage I was trying to renegotiate my contract so I quoted it back to him and asked for £50 more.

KAY: You had a good group of young players back then, too…

KEOWN: I remember when we were in the youth team watching the people above us and saying, 'These guys aren't good enough. We should be in the team'.

ADAMS: They weren't very good and maybe the next generation weren't as good as us, either.

KEOWN: We had such a good youth team with the likes of Michael Thomas, Niall Quinn and David Rocastle, Paul Merson, Gus Caesar and Martin Hayes. They couldn't work out why Rocastle was running around dribbling with his head down. So they took him to the halfway line and said: 'Can you see the goal?' and he couldn't. His eyesight was terrible. They sorted him out with contact lenses and his career took off.

ADAMS: A lovely lad, Rocky.

KEOWN: I remember we used to have fish and chips near the ground. The first-team players came through and tried to pinch them.

ADAMS: And you'd pre-order what you wanted for after the game. The manager would ask you if you wanted sausage, fish or fishcakes.

KEOWN: Getting in your order was more important than the game. We played a lot of games back then, too many. Maybe 65 a season. But I remember beating Tottenham youth team 9-0 and scoring at the end. The whistle went, though. It would have been 10. But we didn't win the FA Youth Cup and there was a major inquest. They made out it was going to be the end of our careers.

ADAMS: We were so lucky with the people we played alongside at that age. They were top class.

KEOWN: Yeah. When I went to Aston Villa, I assumed all young players were going to be the same. But I knew there was trouble when I played in midfield in training and I was the best midfielder! The same depth wasn't there.
National service: Adams and Keown on England duty

National service: Adams and Keown on England duty

KAY: The most exciting time must have been when Arsene Wenger came in after those few lean years with Bruce Rioch.

KEOWN: I think it had reached a natural end when George left.

ADAMS: He didn't have the same enthusiasm by the end.

KEOWN: I think that style of management had maybe had its day. Bruce Rioch came in and gave us all a pay rise - he said to get in and see the chairman because our money was embarrassing. Wenger gave us one, too, when he came in.

ADAMS: It coincided with Danny Fiszman coming to the club (board) and things changed.

KEOWN: They bought Dennis Bergkamp. I always liked Danny. He, David Dein and the chairman (Peter Hill-Wood) would come in and talk to us before the games. I liked that. You had a connection with them because there was a difference between the players and the guys upstairs before.

ADAMS: They were good people and consistent. After we won the Cup-Winners' Cup final in 1994, they ordered us loads of champagne. The next year, when we lost the final to Real Zaragoza, they did the same. They went about things the right way. Fiszman and Dein decided to kick the club on. It was about investment and signing Dennis Bergkamp was a major catalyst for the club.

KEOWN: For me, it wasn't until Patrick Vieira arrived that it all started happening. And Marc Overmars. He was so good. Speaking to players at other teams, they were so relieved when he left. We suddenly had people who could win us games. I used to giggle because I'd seen them in training al l week and then some poor defender would be one-on-one with Nicolas Anelka.

ADAMS: Yeah, good luck! I got sent off at Derby, they scored a penalty and I walked off the pitch thinking, 'That's it, game over'. But Nicolas scored a hat-trick.

KEOWN: I've never seen a 17-year old play like that. Unbelievable.

KAY: What about Wenger's impact?

KEOWN: He came for one game, but when he took over properly, it was us on trial, not him. He just watched. I had no idea who he was. Glenn Hoddle had said a few nice things about him from Monaco. It was odd because we weren't used to a nice guy. I remember thinking, 'Do nice guys win anything?' and, 'How many times do I have to shake his hand?' Wenger made it the rule that we had to all shake hands every day.

ADAMS: In France they do that. I went to Toulouse to do my Pro Licence and you're doing it all day. I knew nothing about Arsene when he arrived. I knew we didn't want him. And I didn't get on with him well at first because he pulled me off in his first game.

KAY: Finally, chaps, who was the best striker you played against?

ADAMS: I found it difficult when there were people coming from deep. It gave me more problems than, say, dealing with Alan Shearer. Martin was a fantastic one-on-one defender. You'd say, 'Go and mark Anelka', and he'd mark him out of the game. But when you've got people forcing you to think - like (Peter) Beardsley or (Gianfranco) Zola - it's tougher. The absolute best was Marco van Basten. He was 6ft 4in, quicker than Ian Wright, was two-footed, he could hold it up like Alan Smith. He had it all.

KEOWN: I never allowed anyone to grow in my mind. But when I looked back, I realised there were some great players. I always thought Mark Hughes was a top player but in Europe it was Romario. I remember playing against him and Ronaldo for Barcelona and they were like spinning tops. Romario had ABS brakes - he could stop so quickly.