There’s some form of collective malaise going on here; a sort of ‘whine flu’. On Monday some of our players looked almost affronted that Villa were defending stoutly and not spinelessly capitulating like they did the last time they visited; their role was to lie down and surrender the three points that are rightfully ours against all but the other members of the ‘Big Four’.
In short, to be Aston Fodder. It was similar against Spurs.
Now there’s two ways you can go with this: either complacency has set in following our terrific second half of last season, and we’re approaching matches with a surfeit of confidence which is certain to lead to our undoing; or the pressure of the widely-touted first league title for 20 years has created expectation levels which some are unable to reach.
Either way, the symptoms of frustration are apparent.
We need to quickly regain the combination of composure and energy that typified our tremendous form at the back half of last season, and earn every point. Losing three games might be considered reckless, losing a fourth might be terminal.
