Rio Ferdinand has offered an insight
into the reasons for Manchester United's success by
speaking of the togetherness he believes would prevent one of Sir
Alex Ferguson's current players from emulating James Milner's
reaction after being substituted in Manchester City's defeat at Liverpool
on Monday.
"You don't see anyone come off the pitch shaking their head,
being disgruntled, or sitting on the bench in a sulk at this club,"
Ferdinand said. "It won't happen here because everyone is delighted
to play for this club and they want to be here. The moment you show
a bit of dissent like that, the manager pulls rank, and rightly
so."
The defender stopped short of naming Milner but the inference
was clear at a time when Ferguson's players seem to be in a
considerably stronger frame of mind than Roberto Mancini's going
into Saturday's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
Joe Hart summed up the atmosphere at Eastlands in the wake of
their 3-0 defeat at Anfield – "We're all fed up," the City
goalkeeper said – and Milner's fit of pique when he was withdrawn
did not feel completely incongruous given some of the dressing room
problems that Mancini has encountered this season.
Milner is aggrieved that he has not been used in the attacking
central midfield role in which he previously operated for Aston
Villa, with Mancini generally preferring Yaya Touré. The England
international made little secret of his displeasure, angrily
shaking his head and throwing his armband to the floor, and behind
the scenes at Old Trafford a comparison has been made with Michael
Owen's very different reaction to being on the edges of the United
team.
Owen has legitimate reasons to be frustrated himself, restricted
to only one Premier League start in the season that his contract
expires and not even on the bench for either leg of the Champions
League quarter-final against Chelsea. Nonetheless, it was noted
that the former England striker made a point of congratulating his
team-mates on his Twitter page after the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo tested Ferdinand's theory during his years as
United's star player, making a public show of his annoyance about
being substituted in one match, but Ferdinand believes that was a
one-off. "It just comes from a respect for the manager, the club
itself and the people who were here before you," the defender said.
"It's an unwritten rule at this club. You see it in the changing
room before games. There are no cliques. People are wishing each
other well before games, even if someone else is playing in your
position. That's just the way we are."
Ferdinand was limping badly throughout long spells of the
Chelsea game but has declared himself fit for the weekend.
Ferguson, however, may still feel it is a suitable moment to bring
in Chris Smalling to face a City side that will almost certainly be
deprived of their leading scorer, Carlos Tevez.
Edin Dzeko is on standby because of the Argentinian's hamstring
injury, but Ferdinand was careful not to say it worked to United's
advantage. "You don't spent £27m on a player who is average. Dzeko
is a good player, he's played Champions League football for a few
years and he's won the league in Germany, so he's a good player. We
won't be underestimating him."
The better news for City is that Micah Richards has returned to
full training, having initially been ruled out of the semi-final
because of his own hamstring tear. Tevez's absence is also balanced
in part by Wayne Rooney's suspension, the striker consigned to the
role of spectator because of his expletive-filled outburst into a
pitch-side camera during the recent 4-2 win at West Ham United.
Rooney's anger about that ban now appears to have made way for a
form of begrudging acceptance. "I didn't realise what I had done.
It was just emotion – a release, if you like, from scoring the
three goals that got us in the lead. But, of course, it was wrong
of me and I accept my punishment. You just have to move on.
Hopefully the boys can pull through for me on Saturday and get to
that FA Cup final."
