Getting an early goal last night was key.
To be fair it came from a passage of real quality which was nice to see. But we know how these type of games against lower league opposition go where we fail to break them down and just get more and more frustrated.
Not sure I really get the 7 behind the ball comments. Emerson spent most of the game roaming down the left wing at will, Johnson less so but it seems to be less suited to his still set. Downes is probably a better partner for Soucek that Rice is in many ways. Downes is happier to sit and let Soucek do his best work box to box, compared to Rice in more recent times where we seem to be having a bit of an issue defining roles.
That said, we played a league 1 team and I wouldn't feel that confident with a Downes Soucek partnership starting against Newcastle.
Aguerd looked good again. I wouldn't be surprised if Moyes reverted to the 2020 3 at the back for the rest of the season given our league struggles. It won't be the most exciting stuff but I reckon we'll get enough points to stay up. If we can get past Man Utd or go deep into the conference league we might be less gloomy come the end of the season.