Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2: What Does One Say?

I watched this one at the bar, slamming my fist down at how Reo-Coker and Barry can't seem to remember how to make a clear, decisive pass to get the ball up to Young and Gabby. Not that it would have helped much anyway—both runners seem to have run themselves out ages ago. Where is Agbonlahor's swagger? Six months ago the man had a sneer you could could snuggle in to stay warm. Now he's a shell, running out toward the touchline like a man who already knows he's missed the bus.

On top of that, we now have a %100 "Flailing Limbs" defence. Ironically, Tottenham were the last club to effect this technique. It's panic over organization, which works if you have Laursen charging away with his effortless standing tackles, which we don't. No, we have Cuellar and Knight. Would any other club above fifth right now put in a realistic bid for either? Half the time we get a needless clearance that Gomez was only too happy to roll to his fullbacks, or we get a neat rolled pass intended for Reo-Coker and ending up at the feet of Bent. This is the defensive equivalent of the scared teenager who spots a cop car only to drop his baggie at the foot of a police officer waiting round the corner.

But the real sadness was the let down fom the feeling prior to kick off that this was it. We had an obligation to prevent the sick inevitably of this:

And we blew it. We blew it in front of everyone. We may not get another chance this season, and with the loss of Champions League money, we may not ever get this chance again. This was supposed to be my favourite year...