awooga83 I think that's not fair, it is a mistake to try to play that way in my view because England aren't Arsenal in terms of defensive quality
But England would be if England decided to develop the kind of football that currently flourishes in England.
Yes, England doesn't have the defensive quality, and that's in part because England overall still thinks of football in terms of Harry Kanes and Teddy Sheringhams, Glenn Hoddles and Jack Wilsheres, about gut-burning wingers and midfield generals.
There's been a real uptick in the technical level the clubs are producing but there's no real reason the likes of Pickford, crockish Stones, underwhelming Guehi or piratical Konsa are the level England's got when the cross comes in.
The English lads who play in England are coming in from English clubs that defend better than England's national team. English fans may reckon there's not much connection between that and the way the English press continually dumps on Arsenal's defensive orientation, but … I reckon there is.
I also reckon if the instinct is there's simply no way an English defence can hold out a tooled-up Argentina for an extra quarter hour, England's already lost and is mainly waiting to find out how. Arsenal gets itself caught in these situations fairly often, but we don't go into them planning to bottle it.
