much he has enjoyed playing in Europe this season, adding: "These games are different to the league, so to have experiences like this is very important to our development."

So why have English teams been so successful? Partly it is down to weight of numbers. Six of the 24 sides in the tournament are from the Premier League. Sheer resource plays a part too. Tottenham, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals, have one of the best training centres in Europe, while Chelsea are renowned for their use of analytics even with their youth teams.

As Ben Smith, Chelsea's head of academy performance systems, explained at last week's Sports Analytics Innovation Summit: "We want to be the best development centre in the world. We use analysis and feedback after everysession, even with our young players."

Villa also have a renowned youth academy and were recently granted category one status as part of the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP). One of EPPP's aims is to improve coaching standards and increase the number of home-grown players, but Burton believes it is too early to credit it for the clubs' success in NextGen.

"I'm sure with the EPPP criteria that we will produce better quality players, but it has only come in this season," he says. Instead Burton, a wily old fox who managed Wimbledon in the Premier League, believes that individual clubs are reaping the rewards for coaching structures put in place over many years – and, in Arsenal's case, a scouting system that extends across Europe.

"We're not bad,