The Carling Cup exploits of the Arsenal squad over the past few seasons have highlighted the benefits of the long term strategy being followed by Arsene Wenger. Having two fourth place finishes in the Premiership has been indicative of the rebuilding taking place, losing players of the quality of Vieira, Henry, Bergkamp, Cole, Campbell and Pires was always going to be painful.

Seemingly, he is getting matters in hand with the first team now atop of the Premier League, six points clear of Chelsea in third place. The upcoming Christmas period will tell whether or not Wenger’s charges are in the mix for the long haul but with van Persie, Hleb, Flamini and Fabregas all returning to the squad following lengthy absences through injury, the signs are promising.

Coming through behind them are a talented group of young players. Some are already established internationals – Senderos, Bendtner and Eduardo – whilst others are breaking into their national squads on a regular basis – Diarra, Song, Diaby and Fabianski – so use of the tag of ‘kids’ needs to be reconsidered. Of those left - Denilson, Walcott, Randall, Traore and Justin Hoyte – all have regular berths at the lower levels of the international pyramid.

Whilst the focus invariably turns to the first team and the lack of Englishmen, those such as Lansbury, Randall and Gavin Hoyte are overlooked. Indeed, all of the natives in the Arsenal Academy play for England at junior levels. Of the current full international squad, Ashley Cole and David Bentley learnt their trade at Arsenal, more than can be said of Manchester United and Liverpool whose numbers are bloated by purchased talent. Arsene Wenger has provided more of a base for future careers than his peers yet is lambasted for having a global view for his club.

The experience gained by those who comprise the ‘reserve’ squad is not limited to the Carling Cup. Wenger’s recent teams against Slavia Prague and Steaua Bucharest gave the inexperienced exposure in the Champions League. The fundamental difference between Arsenal and other clubs is that this is the norm at The Emirates. Wenger does not wait to find out if they are good enough for the Premier League matches, using other competitions to blood them. Others are playing catch up in this department but are falling woefully short, Manchester United are a prime example with their depleted teams being knocked out in the early stages of the Carling Cup for the past two seasons. It is little wonder in this environment that huge sums of money are spent every transfer window by the English game as teams spend to stand still.

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