Movember 30th

Finally!

I think it's been a good campaign.

Maybe due to the messy look, or just looking plain ugly, or chee ko pek, it got people asking about why I was keeping all that hair.

I got the chance to not only explain what this campaign was all about and some even donated money to the cause!

Till next year!

Movember 29th

It's almost over.

Shaving/plucking it all off on Saturday.

Malaysia 0 Singapore 3

A fantastic result at the opening match of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012! This ranks as one of our best against our neighbours. A precious away win in Malaysia at that!

Two goals from Shahril Ishak and one from our golden oldie, Aleksander Duric, settled the game. Somemore we played pretty good football.

Next up, Indonesia!

Go Lions go!

Movember 25th

Gosh. It looks hideous!

It's alive!

Manchester United 3 QPR 1

For the 9th game this season, we've come from behind to win. Moreover last night we looked really lackluster and sloppy, particularly in the first half. Still a win is a win. As long as the goals get banged in, we'll hopefully see #20 come season's end.

1. Let's start with the keeper, Lindegaard, for once. I really like him. Ever since his "I'm not here to pick my nose" comment, which showed his ambitions, he has turned in pretty good performances rivaling that of De Gea's. However last night he made one poor save which resulted in QPR's goal. Plus one has the sneaky suspicion that he's not as agile as De Gea, especially the few times he seemed rooted by QPR's off target goal attempts. Still he's a pretty capable no2 IMHO.

2. Our defence was not having a very good night either, bar Johnny Evans, who had a monster of a game. While Evra, Rafael and Ferdinand had their share of slips, mistakes and sloppy passes, Evans was truly a rock. If he keeps this up, it is likely Vidic will have to replace Rio if he is to come back into the squad. Plus he scored the equalizer to boot.

3. Last week we lost to Norwich and our pedestrian style of play was largely attributed to the old legs of Giggsy. This week, Scholes showed himself no different. Lacking in pace and cutting edge, the first half performance was perfectly summed up when he was substituted in the 58th minute. I still love him though. A true legend. But like Giggs, he is definitely more suited as an impact sub at the ripe old age of 38.

4. His midfield counterpart was a surprising addition in Darren Fletcher. I really love the guy for his determination and he has shown that his bowel codition has been managed. What a performance in the middle (not perfect but very good) with a goal to boot! You almost felt like he really deserved so much more of this after all he's been through.

5. In the wings was where we really disappointed last night. Once again for the umpteenth time I have to state categorically that Ashley Young IS NOT MAN U CALIBRE. And he showed it once again. Poor crosses, lousy skills, puzzling movement, and one attempted dive, this guy is infuriating. We need a new winger come January. This guy cannot play properly and with Nani due to be shipped out due to his contractual problems, we're kind of narrow on options.

6. Which led to Welbeck playing on the right side even though it's not his natural position. I love the kiddo for brig Manchester born and bred, but he definitely had a game to forget last night. Without Valencia, we now have no proper wingers.

7. Our forwards had mixed games. Rooney was Rooney. Even at 70% performance he would still be better than most everyone else on the pitch. And that's what he showed. Clearly rusty, he made it up with his incessant running ad tracking back. Still glad he's with us after that 2010 fiasco. RVP had a rather forgettable game for the 2nd time in as many. By the time we were winning, he looked like he might've been trying too hard to get on the scoresheet. Hopefully he bangs them in soon. And at least his crosses are fucking good and consistent!

8. This was another game where Fergie's masterstroke was in identifying the correct weak spots and amending them fast. Enter Chicharito and Ando in the 58th minute, both with alot to prove, they literally changed the entire tempo of our game. Suddenly, we were a joy to watch again, attacking and countering with every opportunity we had. And they both combined to score the 3rd goal as well! We also saw glimpses of young Nick Powell's midfield prowess.

9. Considering that on Friday a stature of SAF was unveiled, there was no way we could lose this game, which would have been our 3rd loss in a row (something unheard of). Fergie's been managing the club for 26 years now and has brought us so much success. It is an apt tribute that he has a section of Old Trafford named after him plus now this statue. Probably will have his own road when he finally retires too. Yesterday we saw so many past players in attendance too. What a legend.

10. So we're top of the league again, while City play Chelski today. Hopefully they will draw that game. As long as we keep banging in the goals, I don't mind coming from behind all season. Looking forward to #20 and Champions League success this season!

GGMU!!!

Norwich 1 Manchester United 0

We lost our 3rd league game yesterday and dropped to 2nd in the league. Overall it was a poor game we played. Staying up at 1.30am to catch the match was quite a waste of precious sleep.

1. Well we didn't play particularly calamitously or horrendously, but there was surely a lack of activity, urgency and attacking verve in our game. Maybe you can blame the away trip and Norwich's resolute defending, but given our midweek Champions League game is not important anymore since we top the group, it was surprising that the players didn't give more effort to getting a win.

2. I've said this dozens of times and I'll say it again. Ashley Young is not good enough to play for us. He's just hopelessly frustrating in that he runs around not looking like he knows what he's doing. His crosses are about the worst I've seen of our players, and he has no chemistry with Evra, often failing to help him cover his defensive duties. I still can't decide if him or Nani is more frustrating to watch, but at least Nani has the skills to dazzle once in a while and can be unpredictable in a good sort of way. We need another good winger come January.

3. Our back four were pretty ok but this was another game where Rio and Evra looked exposed. Smalling has just returned from injury so he's obviously not at 100%. Only Rafael was playing well last night.

4. But its no use to play that flank well when the other half doesn't show up. Valencia looked a shadow of the player he is, very hesitant and confused all night. Even though we seemed to float every pass to him in the first half, he seemed to dally too long and thus never got much of an advantage over the defenders. Rightly subbed for Scholes.

5. The midfield with Carrick and Giggs also doesn't seem to work. Gone are Giggs' pace and passing ability. And Carrick is, well, Carrick. Hardly ever a risky forward pass from him, but reliable as ever. They're both so old now that it's not surprising that younger opponents tend to outrun them all the time. The best combo so far is a Cleverly-Carrick combo IMHO.

6. Games like these when the opposition hunker down and defend like their lives depended on it, we needed guys like Cleverley, Kagawa and Rooney. More inciteful passing and attacking of the ball. Clevs was on the bench while the other two were injured. Plus Chicharito coming off the bench would have been nice.

7. Hernandez picked himself last week with a hat-trick, but this week further cemented his impact sub status. He started the game and hardly had a touch on the ball. It's back to the bench once Rooney comes back. Rightly subbed for Welbz.

8. RVP also had an anonymous game. Definitely didn't turn up last night. He had two good chances but he fucked them up with air shots. He's bailed us out so many times that maybe we're too used to him scoring. The defender man-marking him definitely did a great job. Still at least his crosses looked more deadly, unlike you know who.

9. De Gea had a wisdom tooth problem so 'not here to pick my nose' Lindegaard stood in. I thought he was reliable and their wonder goal he definitely could do nothing about. Dealt with just about everything else pretty comfortably.

10. Subs Scholes, Ando and Welbeck weren't impact enough although Welbz had a few half chances that went close. I love that boy for his determination but he's still got lotsa work to do on his finishing. Ando didn't make a difference coming on.

So, a sucky blip after a 5-game winning streak. Can't say much abit the loss because credit to Norwich, they played a good game and thoroughly deserved the victory. But it doesn't look like a big issue yet.

Next weekend QPR at home at OT. Time to get old boy Mark Hughes the sack!

Also it's awesome knowing there're lotsa other Man U fans in Singapore (even in the US) staying up late and watching the game last night. We may all have been disappointed, but UNITED we stand!

Looking forward to #20!!!

GGMU!!!

Been There Done Dad

Experienced it all.

Pentagon Advice

You never write when you can talk;
You never talk when you can nod;
You never nod when you can wink.

Be safe.

Movember 14th

Two things I'm coming to learn about myself:

1. The 'mo defies gravity.
2. I look like I ate porcupine skin.

Good cause, good cause. Sigh.

Obama Wins!

Barack Obama has won another term in the White House.

I guess I'm happy.

Watching the elections on Bloomberg at home on a lazy afternoon was quite exciting.

Nothing much that would impact us international folk other than continuity in the US's foreign policies, cheap Dollars and possibly a greater push for peace globally.

Romney would probably have been a warmonger IMHO, but I think what finally lost him the vote were his "47%" comment and his lack of specifics as to carrying out his policies during the 2nd and 3rd debates.

Movember 6th

Argh. It's starting to look patchy. Like this is the maximum length it's gonna grow. Just hope it doesn't look too unsightly. Plus it's only the beginning of the month!

Damn I gotta huge nose!

Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1

One goal in each half from RVP and Evra secured a comfortable 3pts. Top of the table for the next two hours at least!

1. Missed the opening 15mins of the game. But if it was like the other 75, then I didn't miss much. Overall it wasn't a poor game nor was it very exciting. It might have been because we were playing Arsenal so we weren't so confident going forward.

2. Our defenders had a very good game today. Ferdinand and Evans were decent, Rafael was lively as usual and Evra had one of his better games, with a goal to top it off.

3. It's once again our midfield that had problems. I can't really complain about the Carrick and Cleverly midfield pairing because they largely kept the Arsenal midfield in check. But they weren't brilliant, with alot of misplaced passes and Cleverly slowly disappeared from the game as it wore on, rightly replaced by Ando afterthat.

4. The wingers weren't much better. Ashley Young is crap. I've said this many times before but he really possesses more clumsy feet than skill. Valencia had an off-day even though it couldn't have been worse than Young, so I'm perplexed at the decision to substitute Tony V with Nani. Moreover he was getting the better of Santos all afternoon. Young just sucked. All game.

5. Rooney played in the attacking midfielder role right behind RVP and he did it really well. Was also very willing to drop deep to help shore up the middle. The only disappointment was his missed penalty which would've calmed some nerves.

6. RVP has reached 10 goals in 13 games. That's an amazing stat and the manner with which he scored was amazing. All he needed was one chance and one touch. Keeper had no chance.

7. De Gea hardly had much work to do. I only remember one save he had to make all of the second half, but with virtually the last kick of the game Cazorla curled a beauty which he could do little about. A fairly good game he had otherwise.

8. For a home game I had expected Man U to be more enterprising and attack-minded. We also had the bulk of the chances but didn't really capitalize on many of them. Thankfully Jack Wilshere was red-carded. The guy was gonna hurt someone soon.

9. Did anyone notice how many yellow cards were shown? It must have been a record.

10. Onwards we go! That's two tough fixtures we've won back-to-back now. Hopefully we'll continue our winning streak. I think we need to sell Nani and buy another winger to replace Young next January.

GGMU!!!

Movember 2nd

So...

How's this for a start?

Movember

Guess what? It's Movember!

No I didn't spell it wrong. It's time to grow a mustache for a good cause.

Read all about it here!

Just the thought of a month-long unshaven face is scary enough! Luckily Halloween is over!

If you're interested to donate to the Movember cause, email or drop me a comment!