England’s defensive frailties are reflected in the Premier League. The world’s most-watched league is partly popular for the comedy of defensive errors, a long-running one. Two members of one of the finest English back-fours have for some time lamented the lost art of defending: Lee Dixon bemoaned poor positioning in 2011 and Martin Keown expressed similar sentiments the following year. The decline in the quality of defending in England is one cause for the Premier League’s recent travails in the Champions League.