Albion ambassador Alan Mullery believes there are are too many foreign players in English football blocking the path of home-grown talent.
He says a re-think is required for England to prosper on the international stage.
Roy Hodgson's side went out in the group stages of the World Cup in Brazil without winning a game.
Former England captain Mullery said: "We've got to start doing things that we haven't done for years. The biggest problem we have got - and it's no disrespect at all to anybody - but we have so many foreign players in our country now that our younger people don't get an opportunity to come through as early as I did, as early as George Cohen did playing for Fulham, in the team by the time you are 17.
"Wayne Rooney is the only one over the last sort of ten years to get in somebody's first team at 17 years of age. We don't see that any more and yet many years ago it happened regularly.
"Now people in the Premier League are quite happy to go out and buy a player that is already renowned and they will spend £30 or £40 million on a player that is coming through but not necessarily English."
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