If so, it’s another reasonable idea to wonder if there is a Harry Winks vs Jack Wilshere debate taking place around Hertfordshire ahead of Saturday’s north London derby.
Winks, the emerging Tottenham and England midfielder with a touch of Andres Iniesta about him, is from Hemel.
Wilshere, the one-time great hope of the English game, is battling back yet again. But he’s nowhere near Gareth Southgate’s national squad. He is the one from Stevenage, 22 miles away.
The rise of Winks and the struggles of Wilshere serve this week as one of many symbolic issues surrounding this weekend’s Emirates derby, and the shift in north London football’s balance of power.
It also offers an infuriating reminder of just how many of England’s creative and technically astute footballers, like Wilshere, have seen their careers hit the sidings.
That must prompt the hope that Winks, 21, will break that particularly disheartening mould.
The good news for Wilshere is that he is playing at all after so many years when his intricate and expansive abilities have been thwarted by injury.
The latest setback was the broken leg he suffered in April, which ended his loan spell at Bournemouth after a collision with Harry Kane at White Hart Lane.
Wilshere is the kind of player who gains a certain affection among the fans of rival clubs - Spurs apart - because genuine followers of the game want to see individual talents and spirits like his thrive.
The best north London derbies at White Hart Lane
Read More
It is why England supporters have been so disappointed to watch him hampered by fitness troubles so often.
But he’s back, at least, in Arsene Wenger’s plans and has made two Premier League appearances this season, as well as appearing in the Europa League and the EFL Cup. And he’s still only 25.
At present, though, it is Winks - on whom Mauricio Pochettino bestowed the Iniesta tag - who offers England the long-term hope that he can take command of the playmaker role Wilshere failed to nail down.
With that comes public attention. It is a fair bet that an innocuous picture of Winks in a nightclub would not have attracted media attention a year ago; but it did last weekend. Wilshere, of course, knows that story.
Should Winks recover from the injury which forced him out of the England squad last week, its more likely that he will get a starting role on Saturday than Wilshere.
But if they do square up, it should make interesting viewing for Southgate; particularly as the raging ferment of a north London derby asks big questions of players who want to take control in midfield.
Not long off a 3-1 demolition of Real Madrid in the Champions League, with huge crowds pouring into Wembley and with no fewer than six players named in the initial England party for the two most recent internationals, it looks like Spurs are confirming they now have the upper hand on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, their new stadium can now be seen in all its vast glory from the North Circular Road, rising above the north-east London streets.
There is a keen argument, too, for suggesting that the Tottenham boss Pochettino is now the coach who can be most trusted to develop English talents like Winks, Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kieran Tripper and Danny Rose - the six who made the initial England squad for the games against Germany and Brazil.
Meanwhile, there was not a single Arsenal player included.
This follows the disintegration of the “British core” hailed at the Emirates five years ago following the departures of Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs.
Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey remain, but Carl Jenkinson is on loan for the season at Birmingham City. And Theo Walcott? Three Premier League appearances this season tell the tale.
Arsene Wenger may soon have an answer in this particular debate, with young English talents like Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock, Josh DaSilva and Marcus McGuane knocking on the door.
In the ceaselessly bitter talking-shop battle of north London, Arsenal fans could point out that those players are products of their own system, although Nketiah joined after being released by Chelsea at 13.
John Dillon's favourite north London derbies at White Hart Lane
By comparison, Winks and Kane are the only two of Tottenham’s England sextet who began at the club (let’s not count Kane’s season as an eight-year-old at Arsenal).
But right now, and quite obviously, Tottenham’s contingent are older and more advanced.
It is seven years since Spurs last won in the League at the Emirates. The last three derbies there have finished 1-1. It is a battleground of attrition. This time, it is also one where Arsenal have to strike back at the idea that they are now second best on the patch.