Despite the U21’s relative success in the European Championships in Holland this summer, the lack of English players coming through seems to be causing some concern with a number of broadsheets dedicating a lot of thought to this subject.

It is also something that Four Four Two having been dealing with for the past three issues. And it was something in the July edition that caught my attention.

When talking about young Dutch players moving abroad before signing their first professional contract, the former Ipswich and Manchester United midfielder Arnold Muhren who is currently coach of Ajax’s under-14 side mentioned Jordy Brouwer as an example of what’s happening.

“He won’t succeed in England,” he told FFT. “He’s a good player but he won’t be playing in the first team. He’s so young and now he’s in a country with a completely different culture, so he’ll be homesick. He’s gone for the money and nothing else.”

Sour grapes? Perhaps: this is the same Jordy Brouwer about whom an Ajax technical director Martin Van Geel was quoted as saying that they weren’t going to offer him a professional contract. Time, obviously, will tell even though his initial (disappointing) games for Liverpool would suggest that both Ajax coaches were, in different ways, correct.