Spurs 2-1 Aston Villa: Fan Reaction

These are the fan reactions I hate writing, the ones where we lose, especially when we lose a lead. I've been a ferocious advocate of Villa not needing a striker, but most of that opinion was based on last year. Now, John Carew has completely lost his touch, as well as his mind, Gabriel Agbonlahor is injured, and for some unknown reason, Nathan Delfouneso hasn't been put on the bench. I haven't lost my faith in Gérard Houllier just yet, but come on, dude. You have to know that our strikers are made of glass. It should've been Delf that was on that pitch today.

At least, it should've been Delf after Emile Heskey went out with a knock. Heskey was spectacular today. I don't think I've ever seen him play that well, holding up play, moving gracefully on the pitch, hustling about. It was his combination of speed (!) and muscle that won and kept the ball in the Tottenham end, which he then slid through to Marc Albrighton for Villa's goal.

But then there was Rafael Van der Vaart, unfortunately. With Heskey off the pitch, we just couldn't contain the Dutchman. Carew did nothing, Petrov was nearly absent again, except when he was taking shots from 40 yards. Richard Dunne had a great, clean tackle to save a goal, but he still looked out of sorts. Villa committed a few rash tackles that are starting to feel way too familiar. In short, we simply weren't the better side.

I pray that Heskey isn't significantly hurt today, because Villa need their newest start back in action. Especially with Chelsea on tap next...