"Put it this way,if we were to have a talk in eight years time and we hadn't[qualified],we shouldn't be surprised,"Sherman said."I think there is an imminent danger . . . we need to do something now. We need to do something across the whole spectrum."
The development of players between the crucial ages of 17 and 23 is stalling as a result of limited opportunities in a system that includes only 10 Australian A-league clubs and no professional second division.
Sherman said implementing a national second division or expanding the eight-game National Youth League to a full season aligned with the A-League schedule should be an immediate priority of FFA and the A-League clubs. If not,he fears Australia will fall further behind the pace of development of
other Asian nations.
"Other nations in our region are investing quite heavily in youth development and they've gone to
centralised models in most cases,"he said."We have pro clubs that are investing in youth development,we have other clubs investing in youth development. We need to make sure that we protect and encourage investment in youth development,and competition is fundamental to that,and setting the competition structure to enable that should be something of a priority."