Liverpool - 3 Aston Villa - 1: Martin O'Neill had just offered a vehement defence of Alan Pardew and the intolerable pressures heaped on modern managers when he railed in mock horror at the direction in which the questioning was veering. "You don't think it's going to be 'O'Neill out' next week, do you?" he asked. His reaction prompted laughter but, having witnessed his side stumble for the first time, Aston Villa's progress to date has been put into proper perspective.
The chastening Villa endured on Saturday, when Liverpool sliced through them with consummate ease, served to add to the mystique surrounding "the O'Neill effect". Their adrenalin-charged start under the new management was remarkable, the momentum generated over nine league games testament to his considerable qualities. Yet so inferior were the visitors here that it was hard to comprehend they had arrived as the only undefeated side in the country. That record was duly surrendered and, with the manager admitting his players were initially "awestruck", the flimsiness of O'Neill's squad has been exposed.
Even with the free agents recruited recently bolstering numbers - the introduction of Didier Agathe and Chris Sutton steeled Villa after the interval - the loss of one youngster through injury has effectively forced a radical shift in formation and tactical set-up which appears to be hampering progress.
"Maybe the lack of strength in depth is showing up a bit," admitted Gareth Barry, the coaching staff having tacitly accepted Milan Baros is ill-suited to filling the selfless role handed to Luke Moore, now absent, on the left of an attacking trident. "We've had to change our formation since Luke has been injured. The personnel's probably not there to play 4-3-3, and that's after just one injury."
Chelsea and Arsenal, among others, had failed to win against Villa this season, yet the resilience that typified the draws chiselled from those encounters had drained. Gabriel Agbonlahor may have fired home a fine consolation goal but, during the opening period and for the first time this term, Villa did not look like a side managed by O'Neill.
Liverpool have rarely summoned comparable verve this campaign as in their initial forays - "It was some of the best football I've played against, like the Liverpool name, pass and move," said Barry - with their attacking quartet irrepressible and fed by a strong central spine. The slick combinations that prised Villa apart for the goals took the breath away, the manner in which Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Peter Crouch combined to feed Luis Garcia for the third typical of their rejuvenated team play.
Gerrard's thrusting run through the centre in that rat-a-tat summed up his own energetic display, Rafael Benitez dismissing talk of a rift with his captain as "crazy" yesterday and insisting he would not countenance the player leaving Anfield, as had been rumoured optimistically at Real Madrid.
The 26-year-old does not appear to be entirely content with life still, rapping a close-range attempt on to a post late on when his first goal of the season beckoned. Yet, as Benitez suggested, this was more like his old self. "I could see he was happier," said the Spaniard.
Crouch capped a superb display with a well-dispatched volley from Steve Finnan's centre, but it is Kuyt who is catching the eye. The Dutch international was watched for the first time here by his father, Dirk Snr, who is recovering from major surgery after a long battle against cancer.
Liverpool may be used to winning home games and remain 11 points from the leaders, but Kuyt could offer a proper sense of perspective. "To score with him there was special; a good moment," said the happy striker.
Guardian Service
