Former Liverpool and Aston Vila boss Gerard Houllier says English football needs to radically revamp its youth system.

In France, reserve teams may enter the professional pyramid and play as high as the fourth tier - England's League Two.

Houllier told The Independent: "In England you lose a lot of players between 18 and 21.

"The two countries who are failing are England and Italy. I knew one or two players [when manager] at Aston Villa who did not have enough games to play at the top level. Between 18 and 20 there is nothing. In France when they don't play on a Saturday, they can play for the reserves the next day."