Ruminations on the 'Mickey Mouse Cup'

The Carling Cup always gives gooners to reflect on Wenger’s philosophy. We are allowed to see the development going on behind the scenes, and we are treated to a toast of attacking football. These games rarely carry pressure as our young guns are always the under dogs. However, there are stories running under the current right now that may pop up pretty soon.

One story, which albeit is rather pertinent right now, is that of Chelsea’s defeat at the hands of the almighty, erm, Burnley. Apparently, Ray Wilkins thinks Wenger is disrespecting the competition by sending youngsters out instead of their more famous, more esteemed first team teammates. I suppose somewhere between Arsenal’s resounding wins over both Sheffield United and Wigan, and Chelsea’s loss against Burnley, Ray Wilkins has a point. Either that or he is speaking out of the wrong orifice. I’ll let the reader be the judge.

The second point, which only currently thrives in the realms of speculation and mere possibility, is that of the prospect of drawing Tottenham in the next round. They crushed Liverpool and the holders look a different team with ‘Arry Redknapp at the helm. It will be intriguing to see just how much faith we gooners have in our younger players. Right now, most fans are head over heels in love with the attacking prowess our boys have shown over their two games. However, the feeling of a 5-1 drubbing is not too far from the collective Arsenal memory. Will Arsene persist with the young boys, as he did last year, with the risk of another drubbing? Or is this team better than last year’s?

Personally, I think the answer lies withing both possibilities. Admittedly, both the first-team and the second-team could ship lots of goals to the Spuds. It has already happened to the first-team, as we all painfully and abashedly know. This year’s Carling Cup team look more mature than that of last year. The only negatives I could find from last night was the relative wasteful passing of Randall and Ramsey, mostly Randall. If they make better use of possession, then they would be a tough team for anyone to beat. Secondly, I’m not sure I fancy a matchup between Modric and/or Bentley against Kieran Gibbs. I wholeheartedly believe he is on track to become a stellar left back, but whether he is ready to go the swamp that is White Hart Lane is a test made only by fire.

I am as trophy-hungry as anyone, however the young guns have beaten both teams put in front of them, and they should be given faith to beat whoever else is put there. Last year, I recall the biggest problem against Tottenham being we had Traore and Hoyte as our fullbacks, players I simply do not rate as fullbacks. This year, I believe the younger Hoyte is a superior defender to his brother, and that Kieran Gibbs is a better left back than Traore was this time last year. Therefore, I believe this team can capture a trophy, the League Cup, and have confidence in them. In Vela, Ramsey, Wilshere, Djourou, Song, and Fabianski, we have a very talented spine. Let them do their job.