I agree for the most part, but the "we didn't crash and didn't get violated, so it's all good" attitude continues the decline of airmanship. Asked to slow to 20 knots in a descent on an RNAV...of course you'll probably need the boards. Asked to slow 20 knots while getting vectors off the arrival, there's no reason for FLCH or boards. It's not elegant. It's not efficient. I'll say something.

Fly it how you want, as long as it makes sense and you can explain why you're doing whatever it is you're doing.