England's shortcomings have been blamed on the amount of foreign players in the Premier League, but Liam Brady offers an academic alternative, writes Paul Weaver
Liam Brady was one of the great midfield players of the modern era for Arsenal and Juventus but today he is travelling incognito. Brady is scarcely noticed by the other 100 or so spectators made up of proud parents and friends, an agent or two and a couple of football geeks. At least David Pleat spots him.
At the George Armstrong Memorial Pitch, at Arsenal's magnificent Hertfordshire training facility, they lean into a wind whose origin might have been Siberia and watch the future of the club - and perhaps England's football.
Arsenal's academy side are playing Crystal Palace and eight of them are England qualified, rising to nine when the Polish goalkeeper injures a finger and withdraws. When Arsenal score three times inside five minutes Brady (51) defies the icy blast with a gentle smile.
England's qualification for Euro 2008 hangs by a gossamer thread. And, if it snaps, the argument that there are too many foreigners in the domestic game will become more vociferous in an already jingoistic land where immigration is once again the subject of heated debate.
When the Premier League began in 1992, 76 per cent of the players were English. Fifteen years on that figure has plummeted to 37 per cent and, with the increasing tendency of leading clubs to sign 16- and 17-year-olds for their academy squads from leading European sides, it is unlikely to improve.
Last week Dutch legend Johan Cruyff and France's Michel Platini, now Uefa president, spoke out against English clubs who recruited from the continent.
Trevor Brooking, the Football Association's director of football development, is worried, too. Brady, an inspirational Arsenal player and the club's academy director since 1996, said: "These stories usually coincide with a time when England are not doing very well. But, if you look at England over the past 40 years, they've never done particularly well even when they've had an abundance of players.
"A lot of tournaments passed England by when it was a lot easier to qualify. They didn't qualify for the World Cups of 1974, 1978 and 1994 and their record in the European Championship is pretty poor as well. Sven-Goran Eriksson was criticised but his results stand up with any England manager.
"Their record before 1966 was pretty appalling, too. That's the fact that no one wants to face up to. Everyone wants to blame foreign players in the same way that society likes to blame all its ills on immigration."
In fact 85 per cent of the 331 Premier League scholars - that is players of 17 and 18 - are British and that figure rises to 90 per cent if Irish players are included. But in recent seasons the "big four" clubs have seen a decline in the number of British players graduating from their academies.
Chris Evans, the academy director at Wolves, from where Robbie Keane (Spurs) and Joleon Lescott (Everton) have graduated to the Premier League, sees real dangers with the system. At the heart of the youth development debate a power struggle is taking place between the clubs and the FA, which contributes £4 million a year to academies in the Premier and Football leagues.
Evans said: "The academy system has been the best thing to happen to football here since 1966. We have put so much in place we are the envy of Europe. But the system has become tired and we need to raise the bar. The Premier League has one set of rules and the Football League another. We need an independent, trusted body like the FA to lead a united front of the three bodies. Trevor Brooking would be the best man to lead the way because he has a great image, intelligence and charisma. He's a reasonable man who doesn't have an agenda."
Some at the FA are even muttering about withdrawing funding unless they have a bigger say in the way the money is spent, though all a tactful Brooking says is: "The Charter for Quality needs revamping and reshaping. We need a designated coaching unit for the elite side of the game. We have youngsters in the system who don't understand the level they have to reach at 16. We have to invest heavily. We've got to get together regularly, support each other and spread the knowledge."
Huw Jennings, the Premier League's youth development officer and the former head of the Southampton academy, says: "With so many countries represented in the Premier League it is no mean achievement to have more than a third home-grown. We had a higher number of English players when the Premier League started in 1992 but we failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup."
The trouble is local talent is too thin on the ground. And most of the players in the Football League are simply not good enough for the Premier League.
"It's culture, choice," says Brady.
"Kids don't have to go beyond their front doors to amuse themselves. Football, essentially, was always a working-class game but the standard of living has gone up. I'd like our lads to be practising what they have learned at the academy but they are probably at home on their computers. But the FA was in control 10 years ago and, frankly, it was pretty poor.We can't recruit from the lower leagues because they're not doing it right. That's where it's not functioning."
But Brady is optimistic. "The academies haven't been going for 10 years yet. It is only now, and over the next year or two, that we will see the real worth of the system. And I can tell you that I've got a very talented bunch of boys coming through now. And they are mostly English."
Arsenal;Wojciech Szczesny (Poland), Havard Nordtveit (Norway), Rui Fonte (Portugal), Nacer Barazite (Holland), Vincent van den Berg (Holland), Cedric Evina (France), Ahmed Abdulla (Saudi Arabia), James Shea (Republic of Ireland), Aston Villa, Dominik Hofbauer (Austria), Andreas Weimann (Austria), Barry Bannan (Scotland).
Birmingham City;Artur Krysiak (Austria), Michael McKerr (Northern Ireland)
Blackburn Rovers;Bjorn Bussman (Germany), Aaron Doran (Republic of Ireland), Brent Griffiths (Australia), Gavin Gunning (Australia), Conor Kavanagh (Republic of Ireland), Mamadi Keita (Germany), Kris Paterson (Scotland), Darragh Tuffy (Republic of Ireland), Francis Zenaba (Republic of Congo), Bolton Wanderers, David Gbemie (Liberia), Aaron Mooy (Australia)
Chelsea;Morten Nielsen (Denmark), Miroslav Stoch (Slovakia), Sergio Tejera-Rodriguez (Spain), Patrick van Aanholt (Holland), Fabio Borini (Italy), Niclas Heimann (Germany), Gael Kakuta (France), Jan Sebek (Czech Republic), Derby County, Mario Loesch (Austria), Henrik Ojamaa (Estonia), Robert Ujcik (Slovakia)
Everton;Lars Stubhaug (Norway), Darren Dennehy (Republic of Ireland), James Hall (Scotland), Ryan Harpur (Republic of Ireland), George Krenn (Austria), Karl Sheppard (Republic of Ireland), Aidan Downes (Republic of Ireland),
Fulham;Luca Moscatiello (Italy), Max Noble (Wales), Troy Brown (Wales)
Liverpool;Astrit Ajdarevic (Kosovo), Michael Collins (Republic of Ireland), Gary MacKay Steven (Scotland), Shane O'Connor (Republic of Ireland), Dean Bouzanis (Australia), Alex Kacaniklic (Sweden), Marvin Pourie (Germany)
Manchester United; Evandro Brando (Angola), Chris Curran (Northern Ireland), Corry Evans (Northern Ireland), Chris Fagan (Republic of Ireland), Daniel Galbraith (Scotland), Federico Macheda (Italy), Conor McCormack (Northern Ireland), Ron-Robert Zieler (Germany)
Manchester City;Phillip Mentel (Slovakia), Vladimir Weiss (Slovakia), Robbie Mak (Slovakia), Igor Paldan (Slovakia), Donal McDermott (Republic of Ireland), Ian Daily (Republic of Ireland), Gregory Cunningham (Republic of Ireland), Ryan McGivern (Northern Ireland), Chris Ramsey (Northern Ireland), Adrian Geslewicz (Faroe Irelands), Angelos Tsiaklis (Cyprus)
Middlesbrough;Shaun Saiko (Canada)
Newcastle United;Frank Danquah (Ghana), Shane Ferguson (Northern Ireland), Kazenga LuaLua (South Africa), Michael McCrudden (Republic of Ireland), Patrick McLaughlin (Republic of Ireland),
Portsmouth;Joe Collins (Republic of Ireland), Jordan Hughes (Republic of Ireland), Andreas Govas (Australia), Jean-Yves Van der Korput (Holland)
Reading;Kelvin Bossman (Ghana), Thomas Lyskov (Denmark), Tae Hee Nam (Republic of Korea), Won Sik Kim (Republic of Korea), Dong Won Ji (Republic of Korea)
Sunderland;Michael Liddle (Republic of Ireland), Niall McArdle (Republic of Ireland), Conor Hourihane (Republic of Ireland)
Tottenham Hotspur;Ajet Shehu (Kosovo), Yuri Berchiche (Spain), Alex Olsen (Norway), Terry Dixon (Republic of Ireland), David Hutton (Republic of Ireland)
West Ham United;Marek Stech (Czech Republic), Jack Collison (Wales)
Wigan Athletic;Craig Mahon (Republic of Ireland),
