Sherwood: We need 'feeder clubs'

The 49-year-old former Tottenham and Aston Villa manager told 'Sky Sports' that in the absence of such a system, top clubs are stockpiling young and talented players and not giving them enough playing time. 

Feeder clubs are teams that exist purely to allow young players to gain the experience to develop for the first team. One of the best-known is Barcelona B, who play in the third division of Spanish football, but cannot be promoted.

"Why other countries bring their young players through so well is because they have feeder clubs," Sherwood said.

"People don't want to hear this but to accelerate the development of young English players we need to have feeder clubs in League One and League Two. There is enough clubs out there who are willing enough to do it for their clubs, who are dying a slow death and haemorrhaging money. Clubs will be willing to open their arms out to Premier League teams and say "you can use this club for your young player" but the FA has to allow it to happen," he continued.

Ex-pro Liam Rosenior agreed with some of Sherwood's points, but had a different take on how to help young players.

"We have a unique pyramid system in England compared to other countries," he said.

"My dad [Leroy] manages Gloucester City and that club means everything for that area. We don't want to lose that tradition - it's a huge part of our game but I agree about player development."

"The best story for this is what Pep Guardiola did with Sergio Busquets and Pedro at Barcelona B, where he put them in an environment where they had to win every week but play the way he wanted. Eventually, he took them through to the first team. That system isn't available in England. I'm not sure about 'feeder clubs' but connecting clubs geographically.

"For example, at Brighton we've got Crawley on our doorstep. We could, in theory, give them financial assistance in order for us to exchange players but to play in a certain way and expose players."