Whenever the England team fails to reach the finals of a major tournament, as they did with Euro 2008, the game usually enters a period of sustained soul searching, with the doomsayers calling for root-and-branch inquires to determine where it all went wrong.
Inevitably they cast their eyes over and beyond the English Channel where they believe the training pitches are greener.
Rubbish, Graham Hawkins, The Football League's head of player development, argues. "We look at others; but they also look at us," he says. "They look at the English and say, 'How are you doing it?' We keep judging ourselves on the results of the national team, but we've got a lot of very, very, very good players coming through.
"Remember we're only 10 years into the Charter for Quality programme and so we're only just beginning to see the first players who came into the system at the age of 8 coming through now.
"I don't think domestic football pats itself on the back enough. The English are forever doing themselves down when in reality there's a lot of good practice going on in English football, particularly in youth football. There is some very innovative leadership in the Academy and Centre of Excellence programmes introducing practices that are later included into the first team programmes,
Hawkins is out several days of the week on the training grounds of Football League Club's Academies and Centres of Excellence and he enthuses about what he sees. "The players can do things that I couldn't do," he says, momentarily drifting back to a playing career starting more than 40 years ago. "Some of the skills they produce are phenomenal, even the tiny ones.
"We are talking about future club and international players, but we have also future top coaches as well. They excite me when I watch them work. They are the next generation of managers. They are going to move from youth, and the better ones will go into the first team and continue upwards. There are approximately 1200 coaches working in the Football Leagues Academies and Centres of Excellence and future England managers could possibly come from this group."
Hawkins is a convert to the FA's 'Four Corners' philosophy. "Who would have thought in 1998 (when Howard Wilkinson's Charter for Quality was published) we'd be talking about the technical, physical, psychological and social development of players within a decade? If you'd said that to me eight years ago, I'd have said, 'What are you talking about?' But it's too much for one person to have all the knowledge and therefore our clubs need, and some have already introduced, the expertise required to help them maintain the upward momentum."
When he looks to the future of youth development, his wish list includes a full-time skills coach and a full-time sports scientist for every youth development set-up. Another essential position is that of an 'administrator' to allow the coaches more time to coach and to deal with the ever increasing administrative duties required to run a Programme for Excellence. Some Youth Development programmes already have these posts in place, he would like it to be universal.
Hawkins also wants more quality time with the young players. "Evidence says the brain takes things on board better when they're nice and fresh, and the experts say that's 3-4 o'clock in the afternoon," he says. "Not in the evenings when they are tired after a full day at school, have homework to complete, and then they travel and then train for up to two hours."
The additional staff would assist greatly in providing the players with this essential ingredient of 'quality time' to produce top class players.
Finally, Hawkins believes it is time the game had a unifying ethos about how football should be played in this country to produce the best players.
"It needs a phrase to set you alight, like 'Dutch Vision' and 'Total Football' do in respect to Holland's style of play, we don't have a clearly defined philosophy."
Hawkins has his vision: "Being able to pass it from the back, being able to play it into midfield, being adventurous, being patient but always looking for a forward pass. Our players can do this when they are encouraged by their coaches.
"There has been a campaign headed by the FA to highlight the need to improve the technical ability of the 5 to 11 year olds in England. How and when to use this ability needs to be extended into the 12 to 16 age group coaches.
"Coach education is the remit of the Football Association and it is their responsibility to deliver the appropriate courses and provide the essential support to the coaches.
"Good coaches do produce good players; Academy and Centre of Excellence coaches are the lifeblood of English football. They not only have a major influence in the development of our top players, some of them will also be our top coaches that will one day pay dividends for the England teams."