The former Belgian youth coach - who helped develop stars like Eden Hazard and Vincent Kompany - exited the FFA shortly after the Socceroos' disappointing World Cup.

While strong in other areas, the campaign was undermined by a lack of Australian goalscorers coming through the system.

The frontline attack of the Socceroos in Russia had scored just 28 international goals from 201 matches between them and critics have questioned the pathway for local strikers who are frequently ignored in the A-League.

Marquee stars have tended to hog the key positions while NPL strikers have struggled to make the switch from semi-pro to the demands of the A-League in the face of foreign imports.

Meanwhile the next generation of Australian stars have largely disappointed on the international stage of youth tournaments.

Abrams was appointed in 2014 but last year compared the NPL to the Belgian fourth division, adding: "I was not happy with the quality I saw."

After Abrams was axed, the FFA launched an immediate hunt for a new technical director and put together a high-powered panel to identify the right person.

National coaches Graham Arnold and Alen Stajcic were joined by ex-international stars Rae Downer and Tony Vidmar along with PFA chief John Didulica to pinpoint the best person for the job.

The panel was supposed to have appointed a new TD in November but the recent FFA boardroom coup overtook everything and pushed back a final date for the appointment.

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But FFA's head of youth development Emma Highwood has told the FTBL Podcast Abrams' shortcomings would need to be addressed by whoever comes in to replace him.

"If we are really serious about developing better players all levels, on the men's and the women's pathway, we have to have a stronger focus on the player and what's in the players' needs and player development," she said.

"But I would say the FFA needs to take the lead on that and we need a strong leader in that space.

"And that's why we felt, after Russia, it was time for a change with Eric Abrams and we have decided that we need to reset that space."

She wants to see a system in place that is more uniform across all levels of the pathway and less reliant on individual coaches to bring out the best in players.

"It should be continually evolving but we should know where we're heading," she told FTBL Podcast. "Some foundations have been put in place around the curriculum – there's lots of views on that. 

"There's been some foundations around coach education, we've got NPL clubs focused on player development, we've got academies etc.

"But they're just initiatives. We've got to tie them all together. And people have to have to know where they fit."

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She added: "I feel like generally we've got a lot of initiatives but we haven't necessarily built a system.

"A system is something that no matter who is put in different roles, everyone is just doing the same thing and players will just continue to get a consistent service and they're going to be developed.

"It's not going to be dependent on a really good coach in one area and I think that that's what we've relied on in the men's and the women's pathways for years.

"We've got to have a vision, we've got to have a strong leader in that space – and it's not an area where we can have misalignment."