"I thought I was at Villa Park today"

Phhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I've spent most of the evening trying to make up my mind what happened this afternoon, and I still can't quite get my head round it. For most of the match Villa appeared to think they were at home; their fans outsang Chelsea, their players were relaxed on the ball, and they were attacking in numbers. The one good thing about it all was the fact that the game didn't get bogged down in midfield. Quite the opposite, in fact - most of the play appeared to be in Chelsea's penalty area, especially in the first half.

It was obvious from the team sheet that we'd be struggling to feed the strikers. The lack of Dennis Wise in midfield is guaranteed to weaken the team; it's amazing how much influence he has on a game, even more so at the moment when Eddie Newton is having a poor run of form.

Other key players missing were Petrescu and Le Saux, who can usually be guaranteed to beef up the midfield and provide width. The only thing we had in the width department was Mad Frankie Sinclair, who was thundering down the right wing every chance he got, and Robbie Di Matteo, who was playing much wider than he usually does. Frank did actually provide some fairly decent crosses during the course of the match, interspersed with his usual quota of howling clangers. Never a dull moment with Frankie, I'd play him in every match. He so obviously has the commitment that others tend to lack, and that's worth the awful moments of panic he can induce.

I don't think Robbie is that suited to playing wide. He was largely ineffective against Villa. He's a class player, and can win a match in an instant, but yesterday he was caught on the ball too often, mostly by Mark Draper, who was the pick of Villa's side. Robbie was eventually substituted by Zola, who looked lively and was taking on players. He was the only Chelsea player who tested Bosnich during the match, with a free kick that was tipped over the bar, albeit comfortably.

I reckon Villa could have got away with having no keeper at all, apart from that one save. That is not good enough for a team challenging for a place in the Champions League. Villa are at the other end of the table, leaking goals all over the place, a classic situation for applying pressure.

Unfortunately Chelsea could not manage to get ONE shot on target during the entire game. The closest moment came in the last ten miunutes, when a cross from Duberry seemed destined for Charvet's head, which might have resulted in a goal, but was intercepted by Ehiogu, I think. It was one of the only good moves from Chelsea in the match, involving Charvet, who had come on as a sub, passing the ball wide from behind the half way line, then sprinting on to receive the cross at the other end.

The only other time we threatened the Villa goal was when Zola walked onto a pass with nobody but Bosnich to beat, and blasted the ball wide from about eight yards. It was on his left foot, but I can't help thinking that he would have scored easily 12 months ago. His lack of confidence is obvious.

It really was depressing to see Villa run the show so completely. Ed De Goey had to make at least five excellent saves just to keep the score down to one. Chelsea, on the other hand, never really looked like scoring. Villa's defence were competent, Southgate looked like he was having a light afternoon's training session. Ehiogu spent most of the afternoon trying to pull Flo's shirt off him, Draper won the ball well in midfield and broke well. Joachim and Yorke were running rings around Duberry, Myers and Sinclair, and were good value for the goal. They should have had at least two more between them.

Of the Chelsea team, Jody Morris had a good game in central midfield, Mark Nicholls tried his heart out, Sinclair as mentioned had his normal, mental game. Leboeuf was the only defender who looked really solid, Flo didn't get enough of the ball to be much of a threat. Eddie Newton, captain for the day, was pretty average. Vialli seemed to play with more determination than usual, but was only really effective inside Villa's penalty area; the problem was that he was hardly ever there - he spent most of his time chasing the ball all over the pitch for some reason. Myers looked good in patches, but needs more games.

All in all, Chelsea only ever looked the part during the last ten minutes, after Charvet and Zola came on, but by then Villa had shut up shop. Let's hope for a bit more flair and passion on Wednesday against Palace. If they think they'll walk all over Palace playing like that, they're in for a nasty shock.

One gripe: I felt ashamed when Chelsea "fans" started walking out with ten minutes to go. You're in danger of becoming like Man U's rubbish followers. Try giving the team a bit more support when they're losing, and show a bit of character - the Villa fans loved it when they saw the exodus. I just felt sick.