And it's also important to remember that even if United aren't playing with their A-team, their backups should still be able to take care of business against a team like Milton Keynes. There are some no-names in the squad, but there's also De Gea, Evans, Kagawa (before injury), Januzaj, Anderson, Chicharito, and Welbeck. We do bash some of these players plenty in this very thread, but that's still a strong pedigreed lineup....a lineup that should in theory be able to get past Milton Keynes, even though it features mostly backups.
It's not that the early rounds of the cup aren't important, it's that the manager has a balancing act...do I want to play Rooney and RvP on short rest after the weekend's games, potentially jeopardizing them for this upcoming weekend? Or do I want to give Chicharito some playing time and hope that he can get us past a third-tier team, and save Rooney and RvP for the more important league game this weekend?