GLENN Hoddle has heaped praise on the Football Association’s ‘England DNA’ programme but believes investment in coaches and grassroots level will be vital to England’s future success.

The programme, which was launched on Thursday at St George’s Park has been billed as ‘’the starting point for the creation of a world-class approach of elite player development leading to winning England teams’’.

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The plan focuses on five key aspects: pride in representing England in a ‘’comprehensive and varied’’ schedule of games at different age levels, playing with a particular philosophy, the skills and attributes the ‘’future England player’’ should have, plus the coaching and support to go with all that.

And Hoddle, who is part of the FA commission, which was set up to assess improvements to English football, believes the right coaching and support is vital if England are going to compete with the best in the world.

“The ideas are smashing, they are great ideas,” he said. “I was on the FA commission trying to turn some things round.

“Whether they get implemented fully we will wait and see on that. The way forward for how we bring through the youngsters is something close to my heart and has been for many years.

“The basics are there, how we implement them is the key.

“How much we spend on coaching to help improve the youngsters from under-eight upwards.

“I have simple ideas which I truly believe in and I said them at the commission meetings - whether that is something which will filter through, who knows?

“One thing I did in the garden was to manipulate the ball and I mastered the ball, I wouldn’t do much more than one versus one until eight or nine.

“Make sure you are comfortable with the ball and that for me is the way forward.

“Hopefully they will run along those type of lines, it’s a long term thing, not a short term thing.”

Hoddle believes the improvement and introduction of 4G will help youngsters improve.

“Some of the conditions the kids have to play in are not great and the councils cannot get round to look at them all the time so for that level I think they will be a massive asset,” he said.

“I know in Spain a lot of the teams play on 4G, up to Segunda B, the 4G pitch is coming on.”