I think Saturday brought a real mixture of emotions for everyone connected with Everton Football Club.
I don’t think anyone has looked forward to going to Goodison Park as much as what we did on the weekend for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the fact that Duncan Ferguson was back in charge, and we all remembered what it was like when he was in charge for the Chelsea game a couple of years ago.
Also there was a real feeling that we could get something out of the game, not just because Duncan was in charge, but because everyone was going to be right up for it from the first whistle.
But unfortunately I think the players let the whole occasion get to them. I think the whole derby-type atmosphere got to them and affected them, especially in the first half.
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I also think the game showed how important leaders are to teams, and how we are desperately missing a leader in our side.
The timing of Aston Villa’s goal was a killer, and the way it came about had nothing to do with Duncan Ferguson.
But the fact one of the smallest men on the pitch can do what he did comes down to leadership.
It starts with Jordan Pickford organising the players and making sure they are in the right positions and taking control of what is in front of him.
Then you have the lack of communication between Andre Gomes and Richarlison which does not help the situation either.
Everton are crying out for a natural leader who has no hesitation in shouting at his team-mates and making sure everyone is one their toes and ready to attack the ball.
The worst part is that we know the strengths and weaknesses of Lucas Digne, and we know that he under-hits his set-pieces.
But to give credit to Villa, they have realised this and have moved forward towards the near post and were able to get a flick on.
This comes down to two things. The first is that Aston Villa’s players were on their toes and knew what to do, while we were asleep and then reacted far too late.
Again, this just comes down to leadership and having that one person who takes control and makes sure everyone is alert to what is going on.
But, let's face it, this isn’t the first time this happened this season, and it won’t be the last until we learn to do things properly and we are alert.
To put it simply, the players are letting themselves down by not doing the basics when it matters.
But in saying that, and although we didn’t do enough to win the game, I don’t think we deserved to come away with nothing like we did, but that's football.
Calvert-Lewin must copying Shearer trick
Another thing I thought when watching Saturday’s game is that we have to become more streetwise.
For instance, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was up against Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, which means he’s in for a battle and a tough afternoon.
But what really frustrated me was that we never looked to freshen things up and try something different.
And when I say try something different, I don’t mean rip things up and change our approach, I mean mix things up.
After Dom had won just two out of 10 headers against Mings and Konsa, we should have been looking to put him on Digne or Matty Cash and working to get the ball out wide instead of down the middle.
We all know Digne isn’t as strong in the air as Mings and Konsa are, and Dom could have had some joy out there.
In those situations I always think back to what Alan Shearer used to do. If ever he was struggling against two centre-backs, he would go and put himself up against one of the full-backs.
But what is frustrating is that the players aren’t seeing this themselves. They are all intelligent and they should have the understanding to be able to freshen things up.
At the end of the day, it is about taking accountability and not hoping that something might come off for you, or something might break your way.
I’ve said it before in this column, but things simply aren't fluent enough out on the pitch and that's a side of our game we must improve.
But at the end of the day, only the players can fix this. Only the players can go out there and find solutions to how they can improve and start to get better performances.
But little tweaks here and there could make a massive difference to not just performances, but also our results, and that is the most frustrating part for me.
