I think your problem is that, the parts (faces) you circled around are not independent faces. or meaning, they are "not" a whole face.
the ones you circled are just part of a whole face. they are not 100% face therefore you wern't able to select what you wanted.
you should try cutting the whole face with the split polygon tool.
hope that was the problem.
9 months into Maya...and still learning...
0 experience with any other 3D programs