In Berlin on Saturday, England’s attackers justifiably stole the headlines after a wonderful final 30 minutes which saw them stun Germany with a 3-2 comeback win. But Tuesday’s home defeat to Netherlands only serves to underline Roy Hodgson’s defensive issues.

Had it not been for the late, late show inspired by Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Eric Dier at the weekend, far more might have been made of the fact that for 60 minutes England had done a good job of handing victory to a lethargic home side.

When Eric Dier allowed Toni Kroos to run into space, there was no immediate defensive cover as the Real Madrid midfielder was allowed to pick his spot from range for the first goal. Later, Mario Gomez was allowed to easily rise high between Gary Cahill and Nathaniel Clyne to nod home a second.

And the concession of rudimentary goals to half-paced opposition was replicated at Wembley against the Dutch. Danny Rose, who could easily have been penalised in the opening moments of the first half for fouling Joel Veltman in the box, conceded a spot-kick at the start of the second period after waving a hand at Luciano Narsingh’s cross. Moments earlier, John Stones had fallen over the ball under no pressure to hand possession to Vincent Janssen.

It was another defensive calamity which led to the Netherlands winner too. Phil Jagielka was knocked off the ball far too easily by Janssen in England’s right channel, allowing the striker to square easily for Narsingh as the home defence slowly retreated.

A team with so much going for it in an attacking sense will arguably need every drop of fortune in front of goal at the European Championship this summer given the woes of their defensive colleagues. Led by Cahill, a man who was a perennial substitute for a struggling Chelsea side until seven weeks ago, and punctuated by promising but largely underwhelming defensive talents such as Stones and Chris Smalling, this is a far from complete England side.

Even at full-back there are countless questions to ask. Rose has shown positive signs in his two international outings to date but still looks naïve on occasions, while Clyne appears to be a long way short of offering international-level consistency. After years of sitting and watching Ashley Cole, it must be a matter of huge frustration to Leighton Baines that a recurring ankle injury has stunted his progress just when England could most do with him.

If you are looking for high-scoring games at this summer’s finals, England’s might be the best matches to keep an eye on. They appear to finally be building an attacking line-up of real strength, with Vardy adding a second international goal on Tuesday, while Daniel Sturridge’s first England turnout in 18 months was reason for optimism. Add in the certainties such as Kane, skipper Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli and the Three Lions are one of the greatest attacking forces heading to France.

But if they fail to do anything about the leaks which are springing all across their back four then the goals at the other end could easily come in vain. Hodgson has every reason to be as concerned by his defence as he is excited about his forward line.