Former Chelsea defender Tom Taiwo admits the academy system failed him.

Now with Carlisle United, Taiwo compares his time as a teen with Manchester United's England defender Chris Smalling.

"At 16 I was rated as a very good prospect; now I'm at Carlisle. You see boys who weren't rated at 16 who at 23 are playing for England," he told the Daily Mail.

"Chris Smalling, he was playing non-League. Now he's a top player with Manchester United and England. It makes a mockery of the academy system, shows it is not the be-all and end-all. Boys like myself have been right through the system and now I'm nowhere near his standard. That's the worry."