ifly, before most of us came to EK we had served "apprenticeships" doing many take offs and landings, turnarounds, ETOPS, Military service, whatever. Many had narrow body Commands and opted for a wide body right seat to learn the ropes before moving to the left seat in a wide body.
The current situation bears no resemblance to the previous entry requirements. If the entry requirements were valid then, then there are valid now.
Of course everyone started off with no experience, the difference is before travelling far and wide we and EK made sure our experience triangles had a wide base and a library of experience to fall back on when the wheels fall off.
Who would you prefer to fly your family, a flight deck with 30,000+ hours or one with less than 10,000? It is not denigration just fact.