Video: The Goal That Ended United's Treble Bid

Manchester United fell at the one hurdle that they would have nightmares about falling at. They fell as their rivals, Manchester City rose to the occasion. United were missing their controversial talisman Wayne Rooney, and it showed. City were missing their injured striker Carlos Tevez, and very unusually, they seemed unaffected by his absence as they deployed their trouble making and arrogant. But it was Yaya Toure who got the all important goal to turn the tie in City's favour and drop United out of the FA Cup to end any hopes of a treble winning season.

Man City's Shay Given and Adam Johnson Want Out

Money doesn't buy happiness apparently - even if you are a footballer. It has emerged that both Shay Given and Adam Johnson of Manchester City are becoming more and more frustrated by the lack of starts that they are handed, and have both threatened to leave the club if the situation doesn't change.

Johnson moved to Manchester City from Middlesbrough on 1 February 2010, and has since announced himself as one of the biggest English attacking forces from his position in the country. He was called up to the England first team and scored 2 goals against Bulgaria and Switzerland. Yet these achievements have not nailed him down a first team spot at Eastlands.

When asked if he would leave City in search of first team football, the 23 year old had this to say:

"Every footballer has to think about it when the time comes. It is still early but I definitely would consider it."

The City number 11 also described how bitterly disappointed he was to be left out against club rivals Manchester United:

"It is disappointing when you are not playing from the start in games like that. I was itching to get on. I was dying to play from the start not just come on. The manager has to make decisions but I was gutted to be left out."

Mancini is starting to choose Milner and David Silva ahead of Johnson in a 5-man midfield which supports the lone striker - usually Carlos Tevez. Many think that the young man deserves first team football as he has proved his brilliant technical ability as well as the great ability to create goals from nothing. His pace can also tear defences apart. However, Roberto Mancini is a far more defensive man than many City fans would like, and prefers to play with less emphasis on the attack, and more on defence. His 3 man defensive midfield of Barry, De Jong and Yaya Toure highlights this.

 

Shay Given knows how the left winger feels too, as the Irish goalkeeper said:

"My own personal situation isn't ideal as everyone knows and I have spoken about it in the past, so we will see what happens over the next couple of months in that respect."

"I want to be playing football and I have always said that, so hopefully something will happen in the New Year."

Arsenal may still be looking for a reliable goalkeeper and could make a move in January, despite the current good form of Lukas Fabianski, and Manchester United are still looking for an Edwin van der sar replacement, so his options are far from limited.

The rise of England number 1 Joe Hart has caused Given to feel isolated, and unable to get a fair run in the team, and having played over 350 games for Newcastle over a 12 year spell, he is not used to it.

Mancini needs to sit down with players such as Johnson and Given and make them feel wanted by the club. It is his job to do so, as it is these hard working, willing players that a team overcrowded with ludicrously over-paid players happy to take their pay cheques and sit on the bench, need.

City's Brats Will be Hard to Control

Last season, an overwhelming amount of lies swept through the blue side of Manchester as City's new signings tried to fool us that they had joined Manchester City for it's bright and successful future and that alone. They tried very hard to persuade us that money had very little to do with their decision to join a club that had recently been taken over by Arab billionaires. These lies are set to continue, as Yaya Toure racked his brains for excuses and reasons why he should choose Manchester City over Barcelona and Manchester United.

I think we can all answer that question for you Yaya. £200k a week sounds pretty good. The simple fact is, Yaya Toure chose the desire for more money over the desire for guaranteed success with either Barcelona or Manchester United. He turned down Champions League football for money (and the Europa League of course!). He explained that:

"Manchester United is a big club, one of the biggest in the world, but I chose Manchester City because they had not won anything."

Read that again.

But to be fair, he goes on to say that it is a good feeling to go to a club that hasn't won anything and then see everything change for the better around you. I imagine it would probably feel even better if you were getting paid almost a quarter of a million pounds every week!

With all this money being paid to players at City, Roberto Mancini will have a tough job keeping all of their ego's in check. If things start going badly for the team and if a few players don't support the manager I can see a repeat of the the French horror at the World Cup. Players going on strike against the manager and refusing to follow the managers tactics. There was even a small hint of it last season when Carlos Tevez publicly stated that he didn't like the way Mancini had the team train. Don't be suprised if the City brats do something similar this season.