O'Neill is a strange man. He spends £20m+ on two very, very good wingers and plays a nine footed gloved Norwegian in the middle alongside the doe-eyed Emile. Pace on the wings, strength in the middle. Why then did he elect to lump balls from the full-backs rather than use the wings? Skrtel mopped up everything that came his way and Pepe, glorious again, took what was left. Villa are still a decent side but clearly their arses have gone. Was this the same side that blunted us last autumn when Torres limped off? Fernando limped around the pitch yesterday but that was barely noticed. For once, we didn't need him.
At half time it looked like game over in terms of the scoring. Think back to the Hull game. Two quick goals when they we needed, a word with Rafa at half time and then that wonderful 'controlling' stagnant play that got us through the winter. Lucas for Gerrard (he'd been booked) and Dirk up front seemed logical if you weren't interested in seeing what would happen if we pushed Villa over the edge. Jesus, did it just take a signature to get us playing like this? Really?
A cloud has been lifted and even the crowd have been making a difference. Applauding Friedel and Heskey, protesting about the red card etc made it an enjoyable day. There were times when the match was, y'know, fun. For the first time in maybe years I didn't want the whistle to come. How is this possible? Three former European Cup winners - 13-1. Was this the same team who couldn't get past a club with just a throw-in in their armoury in three hours of football?
It's nice to dream again although I'd rather be in United's position than ours. Their Arsenal clash could be massive for us and ours won't exactly be a walk in the park. Will Ferguson rest players so they can go fully armed at Porto two days later? How will Vidic, Rooney and Scholes's absence help? What happened to that man who claimed that any attempt at a Respect The Ref campaign is bootless while Man Utd do what they do? So much of this stage of the season is down to momentum. Ask Villa and United. Will that be enough to decide the strangest season since 1986?
Very possibly.