FFS. The debacle last season where we had to rest players for Fiorentina away before the cup final a couple of days later, which our promising season season ended in the space of a couple of days, means that I'm sceptical of pushing for this trophy. Don't get me wrong, it's great to win something, but prioritising the cups is always a risky strategy as so many things can go wrong in a one-off game. Even when we've had supposedly "easy" double legged semi-finals in Burnley or Sheffield Utd we've still managed to make it difficult for ourselves. Was hoping we'd get a few easier draws where we can give chances to the likes of Pritchard, Dele Alli and Wimmer, and if we get to the final then great, but if not then it's no big deal.
But...it's never ok to lose to Arsenal especially not at home. I was there in 2010 and was absolutely furious with Redknapp for his team selection that day:
Pletikosa, Naughton, Bassong, Caulker, Assou-Ekotto, Bentley, Palacios, Livermore, Sandro, Dos Santos, Pavlyuchenko
Absolutely terrible - especially considering that IIRC it was Sandro and Caulker's debuts. We lost to two ridiculously bad penalty decisions but in all fariness we were lucky to get to extra time in the first place. I can accept putting out a reserve team and getting dingdonged on by Man Utd, but not by Arsenal. No way.