It would be wrong to blame Carlo Ancelotti for Chelsea's defeat to Tottenham.
I have heard a lot of Chelsea fans criticising the Italian after the club's recent wobble; in fact there has been so much grumbling you would not believe they are top of the league, in the FA Cup final and four wins away from the first domestic double in their history.
Discontented fans are living in a Jose Mourinho wonderland. In their eyes, nobody can live up to the Special One, even though the team are playing much more expansively under Ancelotti.
It is the players who win and lose matches, and the simple truth is that Chelsea's failed to perform.
In big games like the one at White Hart Lane, you need your senior figures to stand up and lead by example, and John Terry and Didier Drogba both let their team down.
We are used to Drogba doing it - he has a track record of either losing interest or losing control when things are not going well, as his record of red cards in Europe shows.
But I was disappointed in Terry, who was completely indisciplined throughout and rightly saw red for two silly challenges.
He was lucky not to have been booked already when he got his first yellow for a lunge on Roman Pavlyuchenko, then he made a needless challenge on Gareth Bale in an area of pitch where he simply did not have to give away a foul.
You also have to give tremendous credit to Spurs, who have had a fantastic season and now look favourites to qualify for the Champions League.
If they do, it will be a tremendous reward for Harry Redknapp and a squad of players who have shown the kind of grit you don't always associate with them.
They have coped extremely well with the loss of key players - Aaron Lennon has gone down injured and Gareth Bale has emerged as a pacy winger (albeit on the opposite flank); Michael Dawson has performed brilliantly with Jonathan Woodgate and often Ledley King missing, and Roman Pavlyuchenko stepped up at the right time when Jermain Defoe was injured.
Can they establish themselves as regular top four finishers? It is too early to say, and next season will be the biggest test of that.
I remember Everton finishing fourth in 2005 and then flirting with relegation the following season - Spurs look better equipped to stay at the right end of the table, but they need to show consistency season in, season out.
If they let their guard down, there are teams ready to pounce - Manchester City, Aston Villa, Everton - even Fulham, whose resources Roy Hodgson has juggled amazingly this season.
Manchester United are back in the title race despite their deficiencies. As I have said, they certainly miss Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, but they would still be worthy champions.
This team is certainly weaker than in recent years, but champions do not have to beat previous versions of themselves - they just have to finish above everyone else.
It raises questions about what direction the Premier League is heading, but the fact that top sides are slipping up more frequently has certainly made this season more exciting and it should give us a fascinating climax.