Cole's alarming dip in form is a growing concern for England

Much had been said beforehand about defensive frailty. Little appeared to have been done about it. Arsène Wenger revealed his own concerns by including two central defenders - Martin Keown and Pascal Cygan - on the bench and then watched as his team were undone down the right flank, then the left and then, embarrassingly, straight through the middle inside the first 45 minutes.

They were more porous than a moth-eaten umbrella and of about as much use. The fact that Wenger persists with square pegs in round holes among his defenders does not help. Only Sol Campbell could now be comfortably described as a specialist in his position - and he has had his own travails of late. In Lauren and Kolo Toure, Arsenal have midfielders pushed back in the hope they will adapt. Although the latter showed commendable powers of recovery at times against the eviscerating pace of Internazionale's exciting young strike-force, he could never be said to have exerted a modicum of control. The Premiership pell-mell is one thing, Europe is another.

But of greatest concern for Wenger and for England is the alarming form of Ashley Cole. It is time for the 22-year-old, after a dizzyingly successful career so far, to come of age at this level. As yet he lacks that maturity despite this being his 26th appearance in the Champions' League, and unless he has some serious tutelage soon, it may be beyond him. Too many questions are being asked.

With Wayne Bridge also struggling to show he can make the step up despite his move to Chelsea, Sven Goran Eriksson has problems which go beyond next month's Euro 2004 qualification tie in Turkey - that is, if he is still in charge for much longer after that. That the clever, combative Turkish playmaker, Emre Belozoglu, undid Campbell in the build-up to Inter's third goal will have only chilled the Swede further.

Three times in quick succession Cole was found wanting. A loose pass infield went directly to a black and blue shirt - undermining his much-vaunted credibility as an attacker. Soon afterwards he was sucked infield to allow too much space to Andy van der Meyde, the former Ajax winger who tormented Cole all evening - undermining his positional sense. Finally, Cole clattered into the Dutchman in a panic - tackling has never been his strong point either. He also wandered away from his station to allow the intelligent Van der Meyde to smash in a glorious volley.

Bridge may believe he and Cole can play together down England's left flank. In the space of 24 hours and two Champions' League games, the case for neither being included appears stronger. As for Arsenal, the case for the defence grows ever weaker.