A leading player agent says he is alarmed by the drop in quality of youth football in Australia and claims it is becoming much more difficult to persuade European clubs to take on our up-and-coming young players.
As the fallout from the Olyroos under-23 team's failure last week to qualify for successive Olympics widened, Buddy Farah has joined the chorus of concern and took a swipe at the game's administrators, coaches and national curriculum, which is based on the Dutch style of football. 
Farah's comments are even more pertinent given the news Socceroos attacker Adam Taggart has just signed to return to the A-League with Perth Glory on a 21/2-year deal after failing to make an impact with English club Fulham and Scottish outfit Dundee United.
"We are just not producing the talent and it is an alarming situation," Farah told The Australian yesterday. "I see it every day.
"Being an agent and dealing with these European clubs on a daily basis, it takes a lot of hard work to try and convince them about the Aussie boys.
"They know of the reputation of the Australian kids as sports people, that they can play multiple sports, have great hand-eye co-ordination and have strength, but they wonder why they can't compete on the world stage.
"The situation has completely turned around from the 1980s and 1990s when we were so successful at youth football, which led to our Golden Generation of players like Mark Viduka, Craig Moore, Mark Bosnich, Vince Grella, Jason Culina, Mark Bresciano and Brett Emerton.
"Now the Socceroos are suffering. How many European clubs are chasing our Socceroos? It has got to the stage where our guys are opting to go to the Middle East and Asia, in particular China." Farah, who played with Marconi in the old National Soccer League and now runs Benchmark Sports and Entertainment, believes the Dutch influence has done nothing for the Australian game.
"The Dutch have done us no justice," Farah said. "They have been getting hefty pay packets and the results have not been coming.
"It has carried over into our coaching and we are not getting the right people in the jobs. What have the Dutch achieved in world football? When did they win the World Cup?
"This situation is making it so hard for our kids to get to Europe. "The clubs are now looking for ready-made players and, to be fair, we don't have those sort of players who can walk into a team in Europe straight out of the -A-League.
"Even our youth league is a shambles ... we have an eight-game competition. I watched the final the other day and it was -diabolical." But it's not all doom and gloom, according to Farah, who is involved in trying to secure an overseas deal for Sydney FC's -Olyroo left back Alex Gersbach.
"I am not his agent but I am representing a Danish club that is more than interested in signing him," he said.
"Denmark could be the way to go for some of our young players. There is keen interest from a number of clubs over there looking at Australian kids.
"They view us as a cheap market and they believe the kids have more of a chance to break into their first team.
"I have had experience over there. It is a place where young Australians can adapt easily to the football and the lifestyle. It is not too dissimilar to here."There are no issues with the lifestyle, the food, or communicating."