Good to get a win albeit a bit scrappy. We have a lot more depth off the bench this year huh.
Yup, the depth looks good but two main issues:
- You cannot play Lucas and Gerrard together anymore, it just doesn't work as Gerrard has to drop and cover and as a pair, they are too slow. Can and Gerrard or Allen and Gerrard should be the starting central pairing. Always been a fan of Lucas but possibly time for him to move on.
- Johnson was terrible, didn't make a tackle from memory, gave the ball away, too many touches, ran into trouble. His one good run saw him beat Saints for pace, cut inside and get a decent cross in. This is his strength but just doesn't do this enough anymore.
In saying that, I think we should remember that BR learnt a lot from last season and his main finding? A plan 'A' and 'B' isn't enough anymore and looked like they tried plan C and D to get the win. Overall, it's a win and they will only get stronger given it was the first competitive game and hopefully there is a striker to come in still.