Exactly. While England are no great shakes, all but the top teams do setup defensively against them. Those that have the ability (Poland, Slovenia et al) to defend can, and often do frustrate them, but you very rarely see England against the wall for whole matches against these types of teams. In fact it's this problem of breaking teams down that highlights the lack of technical ability the players have - they quite often look ragged and bereft of ideas.
After they take the lead, the game opens up and England look a better proposition (even though the dozy media still think they only "wake up" after 60 mins). Don't get me wrong, I think they are - and have been for many many years - far from a top class side, but they are generally consistent with qualification, and when it comes to playing the mid-lower tier teams they will generally get scrappy-looking results.