ROY Hodgson’s plan to go with youth did not pay much dividends on Wednesday with yet another uninspiring display by the England football team, albeit in victory against Norway.

I am not against looking for a fresh approach and ditching the old guard – it should really have been done four years ago after the last World Cup humiliation in South Africa.

But for anything to change it is going to take a huge amount of time because our young players on the whole are simply not good enough.

In time, we may see the fruits of building the St George’s Park base in Burton and hopefully the investment in players from a very young age at grassroots level will reap its rewards like it has done in Germany, Spain and France in the last 20 years.

But I fear the tendency of the English FA to react rather than proact is a hard habit to change, even though the U17s did win the European Championships this year.

With the exception of senior stars like Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley, our youth is not at the same level as those from the Continent.

Of course, there is a valid argument the Premier League does not help.

When once our top teams brought talented young players into the first-team fold at an early age, now they are more likely to spend big on foreign talent.

Going back 25 years, Manchester City’s youth set-up attracted envious glances from around the country but following this week’s departure of Micah Richards, City’s senior side is devoid of home-grown players.

Their city rivals Manchester United have long-since had a tradition of given youth its opportunity.

But the departure of graduates Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck this week in favour of multi-million pound deals for south American duo Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao has led some former United employees to suggest the Old Trafford side are losing their identity.

But incoming manager Louis Van Gaal could argue that, at present, he has no other option for his rebuild.

In recent years, United have not only continued their tradition of bringing youth through but also invested in young English talent like Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.

Is it coincidence their fall from grace has occurred at a time when they have had more than the average number of English players in their squad?

For me it is a worthy argument because I am of the opinion that our English players are simply not good enough to compete at the highest level.

Hopefully, in time, it will change but Wednesday proved we have a long path to walk yet.