Gerard Houllier has questioned English clubs' policy of appointing ex-footballers as managers as soon as their playing careers have ended.
He told the BBC's Inside Sport programme: "In France, you cannot become a manager when you step out of your career as a player. It is a totally different job.
"As a player, you think of yourself and your career. The manager has the vision of the club, the league and has got to think of a strategy.
"You need to have the proper coaches at the different levels and you need to develop them and prepare them.
"I have never felt that England had this culture of developing coaches, but it is such a big country of football. You find talented players very quickly, but you need more than that.
"Whether it is Bryan (Robson), Stuart (Pearce) or Gareth (Southgate), I'm sure that they would have liked to go up the different steps and to have two or three years as an assistant manager."
He added: "Would a manager of a big company put somebody without experience or knowledge into a key position in his company? No, he would not. But they do in football."
