In the despair of the final whistle, I felt that the challenge was over; the emotions that course through you during a game do that to your thinking. But the cold light of day, I can see that this is not the case.
There's so much time to turn it around it's untrue, so technically the challenge is far from over. But it needs the players to step up and prove that it's just a blip, and make sure that it's a blip that is out of the way as soon as possible.
Did Liverpool deserve to lose against Villa? Unlike at Spurs, in some ways, no. On balance of play, the Reds had the better of the game, but after missing four good chances in ten first-half seconds, it had 'one of those days' written all over it.
The team fell away badly after Villa took the lead, but the second half was much, much better, at least until resignation set in on 85 minutes. Brad Friedel had a great game, but it's also clear that Villa played to the best of their ability, and Liverpool didn't.
Having defended zonal marking to the hilt in the past, Liverpool have now conceded from two similar straight free-kicks 40-yards out and a corner in the first three games.
(Funny how the ref can find an extra minute to add at the end of the half last night, yet at Spurs there was nowhere near the correct amount in the first place, and stoppages in stoppage time, which were plenty, amounted to just 15 further seconds added. But that's another subject.)
Whatever system Liverpool use, it needs to be performed better than it has thus far. Zonal can work. Zonal has worked. And it will again. But as with confidence in all areas of the game, if you hit a blip then doubt creeps in. If you are not sharp enough in what you do, you will be punished.
Perhaps the main problem is that with Insua, Mascherano, Lucas and Benayoun, the team is not a particularly tall one. Two of the better headers of the ball are Carragher and Kuyt, neither of whom are giants (and therefore can be beaten by a really tall player). So defending set pieces will always be a challenge.
But man marking is deeply flawed, as we see week in, week out. It's easy to say 'zones don't score goals' but the attacker has to be in a zone. And how come so many supposedly man-marked players get free headers?
I honestly don't see a lot wrong with this team. We saw last season how good it can be, and despite losing Alonso, when Aquilani is fit there will be two excellent additions, along with Johnson.
But it can play a lot better than it has in two of the three games.
It seems incredible, but the season is only just over a week old! (It feels like months already.) I think that Liverpool have had a number of problems to contend with in pre-season that may have carried over, with the late arrival of the Confederations Cup players (meaning less time to get sharp again), and quite a few injuries.
If you don't give these players their full break later in the summer, they will hit a wall later in the campaign. If you do give them that break, they might start more slowly.
But there was a similar situation last season, and the Reds scraped by in those early weeks, despite not playing well. This time mistakes have been fully punished
By comparing the results with last season, there's still only a one point deficit.
But defeats so early in the season only increase the pressure. Losing at Spurs didn't bother me unduly, and their form since confirms that it was not such a bad result. But Liverpool should be beating teams like Villa at home.
Much of last season's success was built on a long unbeaten start, so those two defeats, in the autumn and in the spring, could be more easily absorbed. Now there's far less margin for error. Having said that, it's not about how many games you lose, but how many points you drop, so fewer draws can easily compensate.
I still have full faith in the manager, and in the players. But as yet it just hasn't clicked into place quickly enough this season.
We saw with Arsenal in 2007-08 how an exciting, gifted team could then fall to a miserable start a year later; now, another year on, they are once again back thrilling and winning. They eventually got their act together last season, to go on a 20 plus game unbeaten run, but it was too late for a title challenge.
If Liverpool go on a similar run, of which we know they are capable, they can prove that talk of the end of a title bid was seriously premature.
There's so much time to turn it around it's untrue, so technically the challenge is far from over. But it needs the players to step up and prove that it's just a blip, and make sure that it's a blip that is out of the way as soon as possible.
Did Liverpool deserve to lose against Villa? Unlike at Spurs, in some ways, no. On balance of play, the Reds had the better of the game, but after missing four good chances in ten first-half seconds, it had 'one of those days' written all over it.
The team fell away badly after Villa took the lead, but the second half was much, much better, at least until resignation set in on 85 minutes. Brad Friedel had a great game, but it's also clear that Villa played to the best of their ability, and Liverpool didn't.
Having defended zonal marking to the hilt in the past, Liverpool have now conceded from two similar straight free-kicks 40-yards out and a corner in the first three games.
(Funny how the ref can find an extra minute to add at the end of the half last night, yet at Spurs there was nowhere near the correct amount in the first place, and stoppages in stoppage time, which were plenty, amounted to just 15 further seconds added. But that's another subject.)
Whatever system Liverpool use, it needs to be performed better than it has thus far. Zonal can work. Zonal has worked. And it will again. But as with confidence in all areas of the game, if you hit a blip then doubt creeps in. If you are not sharp enough in what you do, you will be punished.
Perhaps the main problem is that with Insua, Mascherano, Lucas and Benayoun, the team is not a particularly tall one. Two of the better headers of the ball are Carragher and Kuyt, neither of whom are giants (and therefore can be beaten by a really tall player). So defending set pieces will always be a challenge.
But man marking is deeply flawed, as we see week in, week out. It's easy to say 'zones don't score goals' but the attacker has to be in a zone. And how come so many supposedly man-marked players get free headers?
I honestly don't see a lot wrong with this team. We saw last season how good it can be, and despite losing Alonso, when Aquilani is fit there will be two excellent additions, along with Johnson.
But it can play a lot better than it has in two of the three games.
It seems incredible, but the season is only just over a week old! (It feels like months already.) I think that Liverpool have had a number of problems to contend with in pre-season that may have carried over, with the late arrival of the Confederations Cup players (meaning less time to get sharp again), and quite a few injuries.
If you don't give these players their full break later in the summer, they will hit a wall later in the campaign. If you do give them that break, they might start more slowly.
But there was a similar situation last season, and the Reds scraped by in those early weeks, despite not playing well. This time mistakes have been fully punished
By comparing the results with last season, there's still only a one point deficit.
But defeats so early in the season only increase the pressure. Losing at Spurs didn't bother me unduly, and their form since confirms that it was not such a bad result. But Liverpool should be beating teams like Villa at home.
Much of last season's success was built on a long unbeaten start, so those two defeats, in the autumn and in the spring, could be more easily absorbed. Now there's far less margin for error. Having said that, it's not about how many games you lose, but how many points you drop, so fewer draws can easily compensate.
I still have full faith in the manager, and in the players. But as yet it just hasn't clicked into place quickly enough this season.
We saw with Arsenal in 2007-08 how an exciting, gifted team could then fall to a miserable start a year later; now, another year on, they are once again back thrilling and winning. They eventually got their act together last season, to go on a 20 plus game unbeaten run, but it was too late for a title challenge.
If Liverpool go on a similar run, of which we know they are capable, they can prove that talk of the end of a title bid was seriously premature.
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