Stewart Robson told Sky Sports News the English coaching system needs a radical overhaul.
Robson says whole system needs to change
Stewart Robson says The FA are more to blame for England's World Cup failure than Fabio Capello.
The former Arsenal midfielder claims that although Fabio Capello did make mistakes in South Africa, the problems lie further with the FA and the England youth development program.
Robson also claimed that the players were also to blame for England's failure to progress past the first knockout round of the World Cup.
Robson told
Sky Sports News: "We can blame Capello, we can blame Steve McClaren, we can even blame Sven Göran Eriksson but at the end of the day, I think it's got to go back to the way we coach young players in this country.
"I think Capello could've done things differently. He picked players that weren't in form, he picked players that seemed as if they were unfit, he had rigid tactics.
"Yet only a little while ago we were saying how good a manager he was for England's qualification campaign where the style of play seemed to suit the team we played. As soon as England have a bad time, it's back to blaming the manager again.
"You can't blame the manager too many times; it's the players, the FA and the coaching system in this country that needs a total revamp.
"England players weren't on top form, Rooney obviously wasn't on top form but Fabio Capello didn't have many options.
"Even when Defoe played, he didn't play particularly well, he didn't look like an international class striker, so I think it was very difficult for Capello."
Balance
Robson compared England's tactics to that of Spain, who played Xavi and Xabi Alonso as two holding midfielders and claimed that England lacked the tactical balance of the world champions.
He said: "To be successful, you have to have a balance between creative flair, attacking creativity and defensive stability and the best teams always have that.
"Spain had that balance. They had a good understanding of when they needed to defend; they had a good tactical understanding.
"I think the trouble is that teams will see counter-attacking football as the best option to win football games and that's not always the best way.
"If you can develop creative players in attacking areas that can go past people with ability, that is the best way for any development of young players. The best coaches and managers are the ones that are innovative."
Behind
Robson went on to say that England are still a long way behind other nations on the day that saw them drop to 13th in the FIFA world rankings.
He says unless the coaching system undergoes a radical change, England's failures at major tournaments will continue.
Robson believes that former England youth team coach and technical director John Cartwright would be the appropriate man to lead this change.
He added: "In the last World Cup, the worst games were the ones involving England. There was no tactical understanding and the same in this World Cup, they almost didn't deserve to get through into the knockout rounds.
"England are still miles behind some of the other countries. Again, it goes back to the coaching. John Cartwright is the ideal person to take the role to develop coaching in this country.
"He's been an England youth team coach, he knows exactly what he's talking about, he's been saying for the last 30 years that we will never win a European Championship or World Cup while we've got the coaching system in place at the moment."
