Aston Villa vs. Sunderland final score: Villa get a draw that feels like a loss

There's not going to be much here today. Aston Villa drew Sunderland 2-2 at Villa Park, and while a point is better than none, it's hard to feel anything positive about this match.

Villa dominated for much of the day, and especially had control of the midfield. If you want something good to point at, Idrissa Gana was fantastic. His motoric play, good passing, and energy were one of the highlights of the day. The other highlight came from Scott Sinclair, who converted a penalty and a tap in to make it five goals in four days. Sinclair should absolutely be starting right now and may even be the best player on the squad at the moment.

Everything else? Pretty bad. Jordan Amavi had his second rough match in a row. His needless foul in the first half set up a Yann M'Vila free kick that gave Sunderland the 1-0 lead before ten minutes had even passed. And when Jermain Lens scored Sunderland's second in the 52nd minute, Amavi was nowhere to be seen, leaving Ciaran Clark all on his own to miss a tackle.

Speaking of Clark, the missed tackle was terrible. Left with only him and Guzan between Lens and the goal, he fully committed to a tackle, whiffed on the ball, and allowed Lens a tidy shot.

Elsewhere, Rudy Gestede was awful. He constantly got himself into good positions only to do nothing with the ball. Carlos Sanchez had some great moments spoiled by a sloppy giveaway that led to the second goal. Ashley Westwood was pretty good, though.

But if you want to blame anyone for this loss, look at Tim Sherwood. Once again, he only used one sub. Once again, he refused to use Libor Kozak. Once again, he failed to respond to halftime changes made by the opposition. And once again, Villa lost out on points due to Tim's incapability to adjust.

There is a lot to like about Sherwood, but his in-match management is not part of that. He needs to learn how to adjust, and he needs to do so quickly. While Villa lost the win themselves through poor sloppy play, Sherwood made it nearly impossible for them to recover.

What a dreadful afternoon. Thank heavens we get the international break to reset everything. I can't believe we didn't even beat Sunderland.