Just suppose that Manchester United, in the midst of a losing battle to remain champions, faced an April programme of six matches in 22 days, including an FA Cup semi-final. Would Sir Alex Ferguson be happy with such congestion?

Suppose that, in addition, England crammed two friendly matches into that month, both away from home, and insisted that United players take part, in each case for the full 90 minutes. Would Ferguson think it “a coach’s nightmare” — to borrow the phrase the United manager used this week about international friendlies — or utter stronger language? He would certainly consider the additional burden unacceptable.

Yet substitute “Aberdeen” for “Manchester United”, “Scottish FA” for “FA” and “Scotland” for “England” — and delete the “Sir” — and you have exactly the position in April 1986. Ferguson was Scotland manager, preparing, like Fabio Capello now, for a World Cup. He was also in charge of Aberdeen and yet that did not deter him from using Alex McLeish and Willie Miller against England at Wembley and Holland in Eindhoven, plus Jim Bett in the latter “intrusion of a friendly game”.

None of this means that Ferguson is wrong to decry international friendlies. But it does make him the wrong man to talk about it. Coming so soon after his ill-advised opinions on referees — he claimed that Alan Wiley was not physically fit enough after the 2-2 draw with Sunderland this month and implied that Andre Marriner was too inexperienced for matches such as United’s visit to Anfield last weekend, even though both had just performed impeccably — it is again below the quality of argument you expect from him.

But this is what the profession in which he excels can do to you. Managers such as Ferguson spend their lives surrounded by yes-men, or at least people who can no longer be bothered to challenge their arguments, which leaves their opinions often hopelessly one-eyed and self-serving. Arsène Wenger, for instance, once said that he would not mind if international football were abolished altogether.

Whatever he, Ferguson or you may think of the FA officials who arranged the friendly against Brazil in Doha, Qatar, two weeks today, they have their own equally legitimate priorities. One is making money — just as in 1986 the Scottish FA needed revenue to continue running coaching courses that Ferguson had taken in the mid-1960s, inspiring him to test his own educative skills to the limit.

It was also for money that, in the summer of 1967, the Scottish FA organised a tour encompassing Israel, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Canada that prompted Ferguson to claim to have been an international player.

And it was money the Scottish FA required later to pay top managers such as Ferguson and Jock Stein, whose death had impelled Ferguson to take over for the final stage of the World Cup qualification campaign, a two-legged play-off against Australia, and the tournament in Mexico itself. The preparations under Ferguson, incidentally, featured four friendlies in the space of three months.

So the English FA today is really being quite considerate to United and other Barclays Premier League clubs by having only four friendlies in this entire season (the last will be in March). It is also aware that opportunities to play Brazil are limited. But for friendlies, England would not have played Brazil between 1970, when Bobby Moore ruefully embraced Pelé, and 2002, when Ronaldinho was sent off for going over the top on Danny Mills.

This is unless you count as competitive the rehearsal tournaments that take place in host countries a year before the big event. England met Brazil in the Umbro Cup at Wembley in 1995 and the Tournoi de France in Paris in 1997 and I suppose even Ferguson would find those acceptable, especially as they take place after the end of the club season.

For what it is worth, I heartily agree with him that international friendlies should be all but abolished. I have long felt that they should be replaced by competitive matches in a new kind of calendar that caters for a World Cup or continental tournament every summer. In other words, the competitions should be every two years instead of four.

This would give Fifa, Uefa and the national associations enough money to be able to pay players in their own right and thus have at least equal clout with the clubs when it comes to playing and training time.

International football may not be technically as good as the Champions League, but it is still the game’s highest form, because it engages us and we remember it. And a big international tournament every summer would help to put Manchester United and every other elite club in their place. Not that Ferguson would like it; he’d be pleading to have those intrusive friendlies back. Moaning managers, like the poor, will always be with us.