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Shebby Singh

This is going to be a difficult week for me as I will bear the brunt of criticism after two of my favourite players cost Manchester United a place in the FA Cup final.

Dimitar Berbatov has no excuses for not scoring from the second opportunity that fell to him after Joe Hart had made a super save the first time.

And Michael Carrick should have known better than to attempt a square pass like he did to gift Yaya Toure with a goal.

There, I've done it - criticised my favourite players, and rightly so, but this does not make them bad footballers overnight. As for Sir Alex Ferguson's team selection, it is difficult to believe that the Carrick and Paul Scholes central midfield pairing is actually going to work.

The two occupy the same space - Carrick because that is his natural position and Scholes because he cannot make box to box runs any longer and thus is trying to reinvent himself.

The calm, composed short passing game ensuring possession versus the Hollywood-pass seeking bitter, loose cannon pro? Yes, Paul Scholes cramps Carrick's style but the former's legendary status lets him get away with it.

At Wembley on Saturday, both Nani and Antonio Valencia did not seem happy to chase long balls as Carrick was shouldered aside by Scholes. Now, take a deep breath and think why the Carrick and Giggs partnership has worked so well in central midfield? Or Carrick and Darren Fletcher? Or Carrick and Anderson?

Staying in central midfield, it was interesting to see Jose Mourinho deploying Pepe as the ‘windscreen wiper' in El Clasico. His job was to "kill the ball" as opposed to "win the ball" and it worked well as Pepe hounded it, resulting in many fouls and stoppages in play that disrupted Barcelona's passing game.

The Portuguese's presence allowed Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira to get close to Xavi and Andres Iniesta, forcing the Barca ballet to hurry and rush their passing. This resulted in a high turnover of the ball or a fast-paced but scrappy game.

It was a point won but the physical effort of having played with 10 men for more than 40 minutes could yet come back to haunt Real in Wednesday's Copa del Rey final.