Brazil is undoubtedly the premier football nation on the planet, so why don’t we copy some of their methods to produce our own world beaters?

The concept is stunning in its simplicity. However, when the Brazilian Soccer Schools (BSS) was first introduced in England, with the central aim of encouraging children to spend longer working with the ball practicing and developing their skills, it was dismissed as no more than an irrelevant sideshow.

Now parents pay for the privilege of their children dancing with their feet to samba music as the backdrop to particularly enjoyable football drills devised by the controversial ex-Southampton coach Simon Clifford. Children get to practise their tricks at sessions costing £5 an hour, using a specially weighted Futobol de Salao that hardly bounces. The rest of the BSS syllabus puts an emphasis on increased time training.

Each boy in attendance has his own ball to himself as he goes through core skills that include juggling, inside and outside dribbling, stepovers and rollovers. Throughout all ages of the coaching the strongest emphasis is put on developing fully the technical skills of every child. Skills from basic to complex are broken down into easily learnable phases for children and then these moves are taught and repeated many times until the children become accomplished at performing these skills as both individuals and against other children in games. Repetition of all skills from passing the ball in a straight line through to some amazing skills is stressed throughout.

Clifford's theory is,"BSS gets ankles flexible. If the kids get in the habit of doïng the skill work with a small ball, when they play with a bigger ball, it is so much easier to control. It is not about the beach. Pelé never played on a bloody beach. Nor is it about facilities; we trained Micah Richards on Roundhay Park. It is about a deep-seated cultural malaise that means our footballers are lazy and the coaches poorer than those in São Paulo’s most diseased favela. Ultimately, the kids who take this serious are going to be further ahead in their development."

Clifford's abrasive approach never fitted in at Southampton, where he was recruited as Sir Clive Woodward’s right-hand man. He ultimately departed the Championship club following a dressing-room bust-up with Dave Bassett. His approach is now in the spotlight again following a variety of discussion about the malaise of English football at all levels, much of it blamed on misplaced priorities on winning as opposed to fun and development.

“When I first went to Brazil it blew my mind,” Clifford said. “It was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Our own factory, by contrast, remains closed.

Brazilian Soccer Schools website