Aston Villa tried a novel approach to dealing with the threat posed by Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale when they visited Spurs at White Hart Lane on Monday: Field two right backs. It didn't work - Villa never looked anything like a competent side on either end of the pitch and Bale managed to set up a pair of first-half goals for Emmanuel Adebayor which would supply the game's final scoreline. Alex McLeish's men had no answer to the constant threat Spurs posed and barely threatened Brad Friedel's goal at the other end of the pitch, and on the few chances they had to score Darren Bent had something of a shocker in front of the net.
Spurs were fairly competent, although hardly scintillating. Although Addebayor got a brace, he was hardly sharp in front of goal (although his first, an instinctive overhead kick that flew past Shay Given, was impressive) and should have notched a hat-trick several times over. The defence had nothing to do, the midfield stopped Chris Herd and Stiliyan Petrov in their tracks (surprise!), and Tottenham looked like the Champions League-chasing team they are against a lower-mid-table Villa. Until and unless McLeish decides to try to treat his team as an actual attacking force, this is what's going to happen to them.
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