Villa Thriller?

There are times in your life, when you wish you could turn back the clock, and maybe start all over again. I'm sure that Rafa Benitez would be the first in line to buy one of these devices if they ever came to market. In hindsight, perhaps his team selection was a mistake. In hindsight, maybe Torres could have done with a rest. In hindsight, playing the effective Babbel on the left instead of Lucas/Keane may have been the sensible options.

And so the list goes on.

Sometimes Rafa makes team selections that make the mind go fuzzy, and then follows with substitutions that are equally as muddled. Could it be that today our luck has finally started to run out? I hope not, as Man Utd won't be as forgiving as the Villa were today, and we can ill afford to lose against them again!

This wasn't the poorest game to watch by a long shot, but for a potential challenger to the premier league to play for 93 minutes and not have one shot on goal is disgraceful.

How we could have done with  a bit of height in the box, someone who could keep the ball at his feet and run into the box. Someone maybe six foot seven ish, oh damn forgot we let him go to score for another premier league team.

Of course we missed our skipper, and we need him fully fit to face United, but from the moment Torres left the pitch we never looked like threatening let alone scoring.

Ngog came on, and probably down to lack of experience was ineffective, and may has well have read a paper for the second half. Kuyt looked tired, no doubt from the midweek slog to qualify for the champions league.

This was no way the Liverpool of old, we passed the ball and then sloppily gave it away, Skrtyl could possible count himself lucky to have stayed on the pitch. Keane almost got a shot off, but for some class defending.

it would have been nice to say that Brad friedel had a blinder of a game, but sadly even that isn't the case.

Chelsea managed a draw earlier in the day, and we could have gone back to the top, but alas it just wasn't to be.

Gareth Barry worked hard but hardly made any headlines.

Once again events off the pitch seem to be effecting what happens on the pitch, with the potential delay to the stadium, etc etc, and God that dreaded phrase 'ground sharing' has even appeared in the dailies (forget it, it;s never gonna happen).

If we can draw any positives, it's just that we never lost, one point is better than none, and it was good to see Mascherano running non stop all game and working his socks off. We just need a speedy recovery from Torres and for Keane to get that barrier first goal out of the way.

So in conclusion, if I could tun back the last 90 minutes, I may well have chosen to go to the pub instead of watching this dire excuse for a so called grudge match, and fair play to O'Neill, for being the man, and shaking Rafa's hand, respect goes much further than just the players.