Fergie eyes England future

United boss points to positives

By Peter Fraser   Last updated: 24th November 2007   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Fergie eyes England future

Ferguson: Positive

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Sir Alex Ferguson believes the role of England manager is close to an 'impossible job' following the failure to qualify for Euro 2008, but he feels the future is bright.

The Manchester United boss saw his former Old Trafford assistant Steve McClaren sacked as England manager following Wednesday's defeat to Croatia which ended hopes of an appearance in Austria and Switzerland next summer.

Ferguson believes that whoever is appointed as McClaren's successor will face a difficult task, but he does not subscribe to the current fears for the future of the England national team.

Ferguson insists there is enough quality in the current crop of English players and that problems at grass roots level do not affect the present national side.

Good thread

"I think it (England manager) has become a nearly impossible job." Ferguson told Sky Sports News.

"You have to think that there is a good thread in the England squad that was better than the performance of Wednesday night.

"There are good players. There is no point saying that everything is wrong and that everything is black, it's not.

"There are good players about. There is no point in looking at these players and saying that everything is wrong with English football, grass roots level and all the rest.

Future

"It's got nothing to do with the present day players. There is enough to have a good future."

Ferguson has also dismissed the argument that a quota system should be introduced in the Premier League to limit the number of foreign players in order to allow home-grown talent to flourish.

"To ask us to produce teams which excel in European football under a parochial system is asking too much," Ferguson added.

"So what do we do? We start from abroad and Arsenal and Liverpool are doing the same.

"We can't knock our club for doing that. We do well at producing players from our academy and hopefully we will continue to do that."