Adams feels the current England side are good enough to succeed at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 but the Portsmouth coach fears the next crop of internationals will be limited in number.

Two years ago Adams spent six months working at Feyenoord’s academy under the influence of former Celtic boss Wim Jansen while also touring some of the most forward-thinking clubs on the continent such as Lille, Lyon, Fiorentina and Schalke.

He draws upon the Dutch model as the way forward, where coaches are afforded far more influence and respect than in England.

Adams said: “I was disappointed that we are laughed at in Europe. They would love our spirit but are not so keen on the techniques used.

“In Holland, from the Under-11s up each age group has two full-time coaches who are almost seen as gods to the kids who are desperate to learn from them. They call their reserves ’talents.’

“The coaches are paid a decent wage, around £30,000 (€41,780) a year, have a car, a phone and are given a level of respect. In this country we seem to think of the coach as the guy who puts the cones out or collects the bibs.

“What we cannot do again is pay an England manager £4million, why not instead pay 40 coaches £100,000 (€139,267) pounds to work with kids up and down the country.

“There are enough of them out of work at the moment, people like Ray Wilkins, Glenn Hoddle and David Platt, fantastic men who know their football.

“We have a World Cup coming up in 2010 and we have some great footballers who will be involved; Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard – I could go on.

“But beyond that it is a bit of a numbers game. There will always be one or two who come through but you cannot see the situation of us having five really good centre-halves or three excellent goalkeepers.

“We need to get the kids off the PlayStations and inspired again.”

Adams has also criticised the loan system for affecting the pool of English-born talent as lower league clubs plunder Premier League academies for quick fixes rather than concentrating on bringing their own youth team players through.

Adams added: “The loan system was devised to help the smaller clubs but unfortunately now I think it is harming them.

“Clubs, and I understand it makes financial sense, would rather take two or three from a Premier League academy rather than work with their own.

“But then of course you have the problem of the big boys buying up their best talent so it is difficult to see how it can be resolved.”