Football Association chairman Greg Dyke says the England team should aim to reach the semi-final of Euro 2020 and win the World Cup in 2022.
But in a wide-ranging speech, Dyke warned that England may not be able to compete seriously on the world stage without changes.
“English football is a tanker that needs turning,” he said.
Dyke will set up an FA commission to ask key questions on how England can change its long-term prospects.
The commission will ask why England are in this situation, what could be done and how any changes can be implemented.
The chairmen of the Premier League, Football League, Professional Footballers’ Association and League Managers’ Association have been invited to join the commission and Dyke has urged all in the game to come forward to give evidence.
Dyke’s speech comes amid of backdrop of foreign influence in the top division where many believe it has having an adverse effect on England teams.
Last season, the number of English under-21 players competing in the Premier League dropped to its lowest level. In the summer, the England Under-21 side crashed out of the European Championship in Israel without winning a point.
Dyke, 66, accepted that The FA “had not done as well as we should” in building a successful England team over the years.
He warned that the England set-up had been weakened rather than strengthened after 20 years of the Premier League but said his speech was “not designed to start a blame game”.
During the summer transfer window, there were 137 Premier League signings but only 25 (or 18.2%) of those were English.
Financial analysts Deloitte said £60m of the gross £630m summer spending was on English players. This is just under 10%.
“We want to work hand in hand with the [Premier] League,” added Dyke, who started in the FA role on 13 July.
He also highlighted the huge investment that Premier League clubs had made a huge investment in academies but so far the game had not seen “a huge return on that investment”.
The FA chairman also pointed out the difficulties in getting clubs to release players to join up with England squads at all levels.
He also spoke strongly about the limited playing opportunities that eligible English players receive at club level, saying there were issues getting players out of academies and into first-team line-ups.
“If the best of our emerging young players can’t get a game here, then we have a serious problem,” he said.
BBC SPORT
About the Author
