OK I was having a discussion about this lately with a mate and we both agreed that Arsenal should probably have fielded the strongest possible team in the CC from '08
The team of 2007 didnt quite achieve want I wanted as some like Justin Hoyte, Julio Baptista and Philippe Senderos have left and the likes of Manuel Almunia haven't gotten much better.
When we were comprehensively beaten at SHL in '08, I thought the time for the experimenting should finish as games like that were too big for some of the younger lads like Fabianski plus giving the oppo a boost seeing a weakened team play.
In '05 when we finished 2nd in the EPL it was obvious Chelski would try to spend their way to EPL and UCL glory, it was always going to be difficult for us to compete with the debts of a new stadium on us. On that note I think we should have went all out to win these competitions (CC and FAC)
Dont get me wrong, I love watching the younger Arsenal players but unless we have relatively easy oppo, I would decline from playing a full team of Young Guns as history proves many have simply not made the grade. I for one would am very disappointed that we have only reached one final in both comps since '05.
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