Roberto Mancini’s toast to absent friends

Mancini can be all smiles regarding City's FA Cup win against Manchester UnitedIll-discipline, short tempers and stupidity. These are the three things that eliminated Manchester United’s hopes of the treble. With Wayne Rooney quite deliberately uttering his profanities (or effin’ and blindin’ to more suit Rooney’s nature) down the camera during the 4-2 victory over West Ham and Sir Alex saying that Martin Atkinson was not “a fair referee” following his defeat at Chelsea, United had to partake in an FA Cup Semi Final against Manchester City without the pair.

Rooney has recently been proving himself as one the best players in the world again and there is no question over Ferguson’s managerial ability, so you have to wonder if the outcome would have been different had they both been available. Although he had to sit in the stands for the match, Ferguson was allowed into the dressing room before the game and at half time, so it’s not as though the players were deciding what goes on themselves – a shame, really, maybe they would have had the sense to swap Berbatov for Hernandez early doors.

Having said that, if you watch the managers during the game then you will see just how much they do throughout the match, not just at the interval. Not only is it an issue of tactical absence, the Manchester United players will have come to rely on their manager, and understandably so. He would normally be the figure that they look to in times of pressure or confusion. Without him, they have a weaker base of moral support and begin to splinter under the pressure far more easily. There is no substitute for experience, and the Scot’s got it in abundance – he’s seen it and done it all – and I genuinely believe that, had he been his normal touchline-hugging self, the Devils could still be on track towards their first treble since 1999.

25 years old and more than 150 goals to his name. Wayne Rooney is a tremendous asset and any team would miss him (yes, even United). I’m sure none of you have forgotten his overhead kick in February which, in my opinion, has to be goal of the season. Slightly more of you will have forgotten the opponent – Manchester City. City fear his presence because they have seen first-hand what he is capable of. So not only do you miss the flair, aggression and ability of the guy, his ban would have also given the Blues a massive confidence boost.

Rooney and Hernandez are starting to look like a dream partnership and Rooney’s absence meant that, not only were they lacking Rooney himself, Ferguson felt Berbatov would be better suited to the challenge. It’s easy to say that this was a catastrophic decision with hindsight, given Berbatov’s miss of gargantuan proportions, but Hernandez is on form; he had to start.

I don’t think many would argue that United would have at least come closer to their treble dreams had Ferguson and Rooney not been serving a ban, so how will the Reds cope while the troublesome two see out the remainder of their stay on the FA’s naughty step?

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