Joe Willock has never been one to shy away from self-analysis and this was no exception.



England’s under-21s had just thumped Austria 5-1 but the midfielder was not happy. He felt the game had passed him by. While a developing player would be forgiven for chalking one bad performance down to experience and forgetting about it, Willock chose another path. He wanted to wallow in it for a while, use it as fuel for improvement.



He also wanted advice, from one person in particular: Freddie Ljungberg, the man he describes as his mentor at Arsenal. “I’m going to text him tonight,” Willock said. “I’m going to tell him how the game went and he’s going to give me some feedback. I know he’s going to get onto me because it wasn’t one of my best games. I’m going to ask him what I could have done better.”



If Ljungberg was hoping for some shut-eye on Arsenal’s flight back to London after...