FA Technical Director Dan Ashworth believes England's hopes of future success at senior level are still in place.
Ashworth was in Olomouc on Wednesday to see the Under-21s miss out on a place in the Euro semi-finals after a 3-1 defeat against Italy.
But despite the exit for Gareth Southgate's side he feels that the plans in place for England to challenge for the 2022 World Cup are still on course.
“Why not? I honestly believe that we’ve got players in the system and that the signs are there in the development programme," said Ashworth.
“I’m still convinced it’s realistic and that you’ll see improvements in the senior performances.
Dan Ashworth speaks to FA head Of performance services Dave Reddin and Under-21s boss Gareth Southgate
"I believe that there are some good technical players in our country and I believe the way our development teams are going about their programme will entice and enhance our players’ ability to be able to handle the ball.
“But they will make mistakes, they are young players and we will get caught playing out from the back and concede goals.
“I’ve got to take that on the chin and so have the national coaches and the players. But we have to make sure players can handle the ball for the seniors in World Cups and Euro Finals to come.
He continued: "Ultimately, that’s what we’ll get measured on and if we don’t win a game at junior level and then win the 2022 World Cup, it will be hailed as genius.
“Or we could win every single youth tournament between now and 2022 and not qualify for the World Cup and we’ll look fools. There’s a balance between the two."
With last year's U17s group winning their Euro title and this season's squad qualifying for the U17s World Cup, Ashworth believes he has seen improvements in the Young Lions' performances over the past two years.
And he thinks it's now about finding the right balance at development level to make sure those players reach their potential.
England's Under-17s were crowned European champions in May 2014
“I read something recently about [England's] game management and I go back to what we’ve got in the U15s, U16s and U18s programme, where our friendly games have changed drastically.
“We take the U20s to Toulon to play against world opposition and countries like Germany, Spain, USA and Brazil.
"We recognise that through the development programme the players need to have different challenges and strong challenges on a regular basis.
“So we’re trying to do something about it and those players will play those matches more often than the ones who have just competed for us this week had done.
"I wanted to win the tournament and I’m devastated that we haven’t and so are the players.
“But is the whole programme going to be ripped up because we didn’t win with the U21s? Of course it isn’t."
“Is the whole programme going to be ripped up because we didn’t win with the U21s? Of course it isn’t”
Dan Ashworth FA technical director
Ashworth is keen to point to the fact that Southgate's side enjoyed greater possession than both Italy and Sweden and created more chances than Portugal in their three Euro group games.
And he believes that comes down to the way that all of England's younger teams are now being coached to approach games, whether it means winning or not.
“I do feel strongly about our style of play and if people want to be critical of it, I’m accountable for that," he added.
“We ask the national coaches to play in a certain style because I firmly, firmly believe that to win a senior competition, our players have to be able to deal with the ball.
“We've been critical in the past of our England teams not being able to dominate possession or deal with the ball and I don’t think you can throw that at our development teams anymore.
“We’ll know over the next few years whether that is going to be right or wrong, but we’ve got to think and do things differently."
