Many Are Called. Few Succeed. Manchester United: Beyond the Promised Land

Lille 1 - 0 United

My problem with our latest defeat was not the actual result, it wasn't the fuckin formation either nor was it the fact that we played poorly. I can accept losing and I understand that we have no divine right to win every game let alone any game. You win some, you lose some thats football.

My gripe is after the embarrassing loss to Middlesbrough on Saturday, after the 'hairdryer' SIr Alex would undoubtedly have given them, after the press coverage of that loss, the brutal criticism from their captain and the 'promises' of we'll bounce back, i woulda thought that the players pride would have been hurt. But fucking hell! It wasnt to be. It seems we have players at the club who dont even care about their pride as long as they get £x 000 a week wages!

When we went 1-0 down where the fuck was the urgency in our play to try and get the goal back? Where was the character of the players? They were all quite happy to just play this fuckin pass the ball a 100 times and get no where in the game! No one was willing to make that extra burst into the box, no one was prepared to try and grab the game by the scruff of its neck. Everyone was shirking the responsibility, leaving it up to someone else or at least hoping someone else would do it.No one tonight showed any heart or any desire to want to win the game.

What ever happened to 'looking into the players eyes to see if they have that fire'? The talent is most definately there, but the question I guess is do they really want it? Because judging by the last 2 performances the answer is plain and simply NO!

The formation? I cant be arsed to repeat whats been in the news which has been said by every tom, dick or harry, because we all agree on it. But if we're gonna play this 433 away from home then at least play the damn thing properly! Want to stay true to our world reknowned attacking game? Watch bloody Barca and Lyon and see how they play it! Want to be a solid, efficient unit? Watch bloody Chelski and see how they do it! Dont just make the stuff up without having a plan or purpose.

How many times was Ruud isolated on his own? How many times did Ruud have to win a header only to see it booted back upfield by the Lille defenders? There was bit of play in the first half where Ruud had the ball back to goal about 25yrds out, Ronaldo and Rooney were out wide almost hugging the touchline. The camera pans back a bit and all you see is Smith, Fletch, Richardson, O'shea and Silvestre all standing there without making any sort of move foward to give Ruud options. No one was willing to give that penetration or that foward burst.

Ahh. Well its not all doom and gloom. We've been in situations before and we're gonna get outta this fuckin slump we're in. I just hope our players buck up before the Chelski game. Oh and in other news, Sir Alex celebrates his 19th season in charge of the devils this coming week. Well done Alex. This, however is gonna be his toughest challege yet in recent years. 2 more of such lacklustre performances and its gonna be the exit for Sir Alex.

"United's flag is deepest red; It shrouded all our Munich dead; Before their limbs grew stiff and cold; Their heart's blood dyed it's ev'ry fold; Then raise United's banner high; Beneath it's shade we'll live and die; So keep the faith and never fear; We'll keep the Red Flag flying here;

"Then raise United's banner high; Beneath it's shade we'll live and die; So keep the faith and never fear; We'll keep the Red Flag flying here;

"We'll never die, we'll never die We'll never die, we'll never die We'll keep the Red flag flying high; 'Cause Man United will never die."

Tackled By The Red Devil at 5:43 PM,
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Your Sex ID - Find Out How Your Brain Works

Do you have a male or a female brain? I took this amazing test only to find out that apparently I've got half a female's brain. And no, it aint got anything to do with your sexual preferences. Its more about how you notice things around you and how your brain acts in certain situations.

Tackled By The Red Devil at 3:41 PM,
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Manchester Dis-United

(United 1 : 4 Middlesbrough)

I am heartbroken by this result to be honest. This is the league gone and its not even November yet. I had such high hopes for us after the first 3 games, but now its dejavu all over again, with that horrible sick feeling in your stomach.

There is a lack of leadership in general at the club, and I cant understand this. Ferguson's teams have been renowned for their fighting qualities and their tremendous will to win, but I have seen very little of this in recent games. What has changed? Surely the players can lift themselves without captain marvel, Keane occasionally?

I am sick of hearing Utd players coming out with "rallying calls" before games, and then doing f*** all to justify their words come match day. Actions fuckin speak louder than words. Do it on the fuckin pitch! You lot aint paid mllions of pounds for your words. Cunts. Time and again, when this happens we seem to fuck up real bad.

Certain changes have to be made to get us back to our gloriest best. Here's my take on united's individual performances.

1) Rio
Mistakes, mistakes and more mistakes. Surely not worth the 30 million pounds we forked out on him. Best defender in the world? U having a laugh? He wouldnt even get into the liverpool defense on curent form. Buck up rio, buck up! Our patience wears thin. I hope he's dropped in place of Wes Brown for the Lille game. That'll teach him.

2) Scholesy
Definitely not captail material. Have we ever won a game with him as the captain? It baffles me why Fergie keeps stickin with him. He's played absolutely shite football all season long. His passing is way off. He's way past it. 1 of our worst performers of the season by a mile.

3) Fletcher
He deserves to be fuckin shot in the gut. I always thought he a half decent player until today when i did not realise that he was on the fucking pitch until 30 mins in when he touched the ball.

4)O'Shea
He cant fucking cross the ball for nuts. Jeez. How much do we miss the service of Gary Neville? We need our fullbacks to fucking cross the damn ball.

5)Smith
He could very well turn into a good defensive midfielder over time, but he'll only only be jus that. We need a world class defensive mid and we need one real soon. Keane's getting way too injury prone now. Bring on Ballack! Lets gim him on the free in the summer. Although he's 29, he'd give us a good 3-4 seasons before which we'd be back at square one. Hopefully we'd have groomed a couple of the youngsters to take over the mantle.

6)Park
Was good in the first half, but it must be difficult when you are the only player in the midfield playing.

7)Richardson
Played well till he conceded the pen, then he seemed to vanish.

8)Ronaldo
Came on and tried his best. It was all you could expect from him at that point. Definitely fitting that he got the late consolation, scoring united's 1000th premiership goal. Off he goes into United folklore.

9)Rooney
Credit to him for actually trying to get something going for the team and not compleatly losing his head with his team mates. Well even if he did, i wuldnt hav blamed him.

10) Nistelrooy
What Ruud was upto i will never know, especially going down with relative ease in the hope of winning free kicks. like wtf? Play the damn game Ruud.

Do i think we need a total change?

No not yet. However, if we have another two or three games like this, then its time for a change in the managment.

Final thought, i hope fergie fucks them up bad, drops who needs to be dropped (Rio, Scholes) There's no time for sentiment in football.

Tackled By The Red Devil at 2:42 PM,
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US. Military Warnings

Warnings issued by the U.S. military to their own troops:

"Aim towards the enemy."
Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher.

"When the pin is pulled, Mr Grenade is not our friend."
US Marine Corps.

"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground."
USAF Ammo Troop.

"If the enemy is in range, so are you."
Infantry Journal.

"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what is left of your unit."
Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.

"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed."
U.S. Air Force Manual.

"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo."
Infantry Journal.

"Tracers work both ways."
US Army Ordnance.

"Five-second fuses only last three seconds."
Infantry Journal.

"Any ship can be a minesweeper... once."
Anon.

"Do not draw fire; it irritates the people around you."
Your comrades.

"If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him."
USAF Ammo Troop.

Tackled By The Red Devil at 2:08 PM,
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