Tactics Absolutely. I don't believe for a second that Arteta promised a cup final we haven't even reached to a 2nd choice keeper before the season even began. So many problems with that idea. Just to name the most obvious one: What if Kepa ends up having a poor string of performances - should we stick with him anyway off the back of that promise? We can never sub him or swap him? All other players end up having to earn a spot but Kepa gets his by default?
You can approach this cup final in two ways: you can let the spares play while you have your regulars focus on the bigger trophies that are on the table, or you can go all in and play your first team. But doing something in-betweeny is completely pointless. You either give yourself the best chance you have to win the cup or you admit that it's not that important, in which case you'd probably also rest lads like Rice, Gabriel and Zubimendi who have played a lot of minutes and are integral to the run-in.
