Manchester United legend Eric Cantona says Sir Alex Ferguson has the ideal approach to the development of young players.

Cantona said: "I admire Sir Alex's work. Teams like Arsenal and Liverpool have practically no English players. They are nearly all foreigners. He has found a balance between the number of English players and the number of foreign stars.

"He has continued to work on bringing players up through the ranks. It's very important to continue to train and to bring through young English players.

"I can understand clubs being attracted by some of the top players in the world but there are lots of average clubs who have adopted what for me is a ridiculous policy.

"There are some foreign players in England you've never heard of. There are teams with nine foreign players and you hardly know any of them."

He believes the experience of Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Wes Brown, alongside youngsters Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney, will keep United at the top of their game - and boost England's World Cup chances.

Cantona added: "Clubs should concentrate on young English talent. It is important for English football and for the English national side if they are to win a World Cup.

"Alex Ferguson is an example. United are one of the richest clubs in the world but he understands the importance of training and developing young talent and bringing English lads into the team. They are still doing that at United."