Johan Cruyff Quotes

German football is like English football. The Germans and the English do not play like a Brazilian side. They have to improve, bring up their young players, who have character.

Kids are learning to play. That's why we're seeing an emergence. That's why we're seeing the Under-17s and Under-20s doing better in international football.

Maybe we have more young English players than people sometimes think. They just need a chance to show their ability.

I'm a great believer in the lower leagues, the pyramid system, but there is mileage in having B-teams in England with young players playing competitively.

In Germany, young players are given more time, more patience. In England, they prefer to buy already-high-level players rather than spending some time building up a really talented young guy.

I rate the EPL a bit higher than the Bundesliga.

Fulham wanted me when I was 16. They were in the Premier League at the time with Mark Hughes, and I was close to going.

Balotelli I have known since I gave him his debut at 17.

I played for Barcelona, for Ajax, where it's important to develop and integrate young talent.

I want to play in the Premier League, the Champions League, and I want to continue playing for England. If I'm going to do that, I have to play for my club and put in good performances for my club because there are other English midfielders who are doing that in the Premier League.

We have to let them grow, because young players can always improve. That goes for Jack Wilshere, too.

West Ham have a great academy.

I was about five or six when I went to the little foundation camps. I got into the academy when I was nine, and I've gone through every age group since and into the first team.

Scholes was playing tiki-taka football when nobody in England knew what it was. He was another of those players, like Denis Law or Bobby Moore, who at 15 probably looked as if he wouldn't make it.

Whether you win or lose against English teams, you always feel it's been a proper contest.

I started going training with Southampton, and they were selecting the team for the under-9s. I did a six-week trial and got in. I was quite lucky to play at a good standard from a very young age.

Ajax always bring through young players from their academy - we can't pay €20m for a player, so we make sure we develop those players and give them the opportunity to play.

Our under-19s, under-20s, under-17s teams are all getting into Euro finals, World Cup finals, winning bronze medals. We're winning bronze medals; it's about that final step now. We've got to punish teams. In every game - youth games, senior games - just to push the game further.

English football is different: always on the attack. Although one thing is clear. The best football is the Italian.

We should integrate the quality of ex-players at the highest level more in football, especially in the youth sector. That is absolutely crucial for me.

I had a totally different upbringing, totally different background, raised in Germany, small town, now I am in London taking care of 180 kids who think they are the one percent who can make it in professional football.

I was 14 when I arrived at Real Sociedad. No team wanted me in France. I trialled for around eight clubs, and then Real came.

When you are young and you play football, you must play in the street. When you go to a club at the age of five, and the coach says you must pass this, eat this, drink this... it's not a life. Young people must train for themselves, play football every day, and not have three coaches, with each one saying this and this.

For me, the youth academy has a fundamental role in every club.

Jack Wilshere is a prime example of how things work. He went to Bolton and did really well, then he went back to Arsenal and really kicked on. It is something quite a few of the young boys look at and think, 'If he can do it, so can we.'