It's inevitable that whenever the England national team fails, the way in which the country develops and coaches its younger players is scrutinised more closely.

But last year's dismal defeat to Croatia in the rain at Wembley provoked a degree of intense self-examination that was perhaps unheralded in modern times.

It was, of course, the first time in 14 years that England had failed to reach the finals of a major tournament. And that disappointment was made starker by the contradictory success of the Premier League, which provided three of the four semi-finalists in Europe's premier club competition.

Youth football: changes needed?

For the final part of our State of the Game series, we looked at the future; the way in which English grassroots football goes about maximising the talents of its young players, improves their game, and hopefully provides the national team with the stars of tomorrow.

England's failure proves something is wrong. Few people disagree that English players are generally less skilful, and display less technique than their European and South American counterparts.

The number of English-born players seen on any given Premier League weekend has fallen to around 38%, and both the FA and Government admit the way younger players are trained needs to be overhauled.

Opinions vary on the reasons for this crisis. Some point to issues we've already touched on in this series; the fact that youth football is too structured, formal and 'adultified'.

In no other European country does competitive football begin at such an early age as in England, where kids as young as seven regularly play in leagues, with pressure from the touchline the inevitable consequence.

This, some argue, drives many children away from the game and inhibits expression and creativity, with an emphasis on results.

The fact that schools and clubs register a limited number of young players in a squad, means that many children, who may develop an interest or talent for football past the age of seven for instance, walk away from the game.

Full-size

English youngsters tend to play on full-size pitches and in full-size goals from the age of ten, again that's younger than any other European country.

To an adult, this would be like playing in goals 10 feet high, and pitches 150metres long! Many critics argue this places an unhealthy emphasis on kids who are strong, big or fast and can kick the ball far, but not those who are small and skilful. The number of touches players enjoy is reduced significantly on adult-size pitches, and development suffers.

Apart from the format of play, the quality of coaching for youngsters has also been questioned. Many children's introduction to football in this country is conducted by primary school teachers with little knowledge in good training practice.

Once at a club, youngsters, if at a Charter Standard club, should come into contact with a Level 1 coach, but there are two problems. First, only one in six clubs are Charter Standard. And even then, the FA admits this basic coaching qualification doesn't go far enough. Too few coaches in England it seems, are specifically experts in youth coaching.

We travelled to Holland to see how a country with a never-ending production-line of young footballing talent, goes about developing its future stars.

Our guide was Bert-Jan Heijmans, who for the last decade has lived in England, and coached Northern League club Brandon United FC in County Durham.

Heijmans took us to OJC Rosmalen, a thriving club in the south of the Netherlands with over 1,200 youth players.

What was obvious was that the development of young players is the priority, not the fortunes of the adults in the first team; a completely different mentality from most grassroots English clubs.

Fun

At OJC youngsters are given skills coaching from the age of five. Ball contact, fun, and technique are the focus. Small-sided pitches aren't just cordoned-off areas of adult pitches as in England; they're permanent.

The coaches are experts in the age-group they oversee. As Heijmans explained: "In Holland we have Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Junior coaching and Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Senior coaching.

"In England, you just have Level 1, which is junior coaching, and then you progress on to Level 2 which focuses on the adult game. The emphasis is on adults.

"But what a 12-year-old needs is very different from what a 22-year-old player requires. You must become more age-specific."

Nothing is left to chance in Holland. As in England, the vast majority of youth coaching in grassroots football is conducted by fathers of players.

But unlike in England, these volunteers know what they're doing because each month the Dutch FA visits the clubs and conducts training clinics, designed to promote good practice.

This means that whereas in England, conventional shooting drills, with players taking one shot every two minutes, is common practice, it would never happen in Holland. Dutch coaches realise this is poor for development, and instead encourage small-sided games with more ball-time and real-match simulation.

OJC, like most Dutch clubs, has a dedicated youth director, who manages the coaching programmes of all youth members, and monitors their progress.

Lessons

The FA seems to have taken on board some of the lessons from Holland. With the help of new investment, a new regime of age-appropriate coaching will be launched later this year with the help of regional development officers.

And this month's FA Strategy launch contained a pledge to put a million youngsters through the skills coaching programme.

A team of dedicated coaches have been deployed throughout the country, but there are only 66 of them, and even Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA's Director of Development, admits that's just scratching the surface.

Others would go a lot further. Heijmans believes the way clubs are organised needs to change drastically.

"Club structure is key," he says.

"Every club in England should have a strong person in charge of youth development. Someone who can draw up a training plan for youngsters, assess their needs and performance.

"Someone who can attend courses, understand the way coaching is going, and then share that knowledge with the volunteers who train youngsters at every age-group. As coaches we are lonely in England. Information and expertise isn't shared like it is in Holland, and that must change."

Paul Cooper of the Give us Back our Game campaign, believes a completely new mindset is required in the way football is played at younger ages.

"Football needs to learn from the game that was played on the streets a generation or two age," he says.

"Then it was about freedom, enjoyment, and expression. Football simply isn't fun any more; adults have got too involved. We shouldn't have leagues or full-size pitches until a later age; until then games should be unstructured; no referees, limited coaching, no substitutes doing nothing on the touchline, and no parents going barmy."

Changes in society and lifestyle mean that a more structured system of youth football is inevitable today. But perhaps if English football is to succeed in improving the way it develops young talent, it must respect the spirit of the past.

The young footballers of yesteryear may not have enjoyed a 3G pitch; they may not have played in a mini-soccer team in a fully-organised league from the age of seven; they may not have received skills coaching. But these were the kids who went on to win the World Cup in 1966.

Emulating that success seems further away than ever, but it remains the goal. The future State of our Game depends on it.

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