Manchester United fan writes an open letter to the players after poor run of form

The United squad needs to be blamed for poor results

Dear players,

How does it feel to be a Manchester United player right now? Do you feel dejected? Agitated? Distraught? Or downright frustrated? Well, I don't know how you guys feel, nor do I really care because I am not here to give sermons on how you should or should not feel right now. Rather, through this letter, I want to let you know how I, along with millions of United fans worldwide, feel at this very moment in time. And why.

We feel gutted. We feel absolutely frustrated. We feel helpless. We feel angry. We feel let down. And we feel a mix of all these emotions that just don't let us remain at ease these days. We just don't feel ourselves.

We have been suppressing these feelings right from the start of the season because we were being patient and truly believed that you guys would turn a corner. We sincerely believed that it's only a matter of time that those near misses would start turning into a flurry of goals. This wealth of possession will soon bring us the required end product. And this transition period would soon turn into business as usual at Old Trafford.

But we feel betrayed ever since that day at Old Trafford when you couldn't beat PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League. The underlying tension created that night, surfaced when we crashed out of Europe against Wolfsburg. Given our league form, we’re out of the title race as well & I don't think these feelings of betrayal will go away any time soon.

It is easier to blame the manager, but we don't think you guys are doing enough either. In fact we believe paying all of you an average of 150,000 pounds a week is a sheer waste of money. And your performance against Norwich City at Old Trafford further exemplifies our belief.

Last night, especially in the second half, you had all the freedom to go out and rescue the match. Forget tactics, forget formations and strategies, you could have played however you wanted, you just needed to win the match. And if you couldn't do this against a Norwich side at Old Trafford, then you certainly deserve every bit of flak that by default goes the manager's way. It's you, who perform on the pitch. Not the manager.

What was worse today was the manner in which you accepted defeat even before the final whistle blew. Shoulders dropped, no attempt or desire to score a goal, let alone win the match. It was as if you were waiting for someone to drop from the sky and put the ball into the net on your behalf. It was totally pathetic in the final ten minutes.

Let me tell you that in my fifteen years of supporting this club, this was the first time I have ever seen a United side accept a defeat before the final whistle. And there are supporters among us who have been supporting this club well before even you were born and I am sure this was the first time they would have seen that too.

To all the new players - I don't know what you know of Manchester United or whether you have seen them play before or not and to all the older players, I don't know how you have forgotten it, but let me remind you all of this:

Manchester United is a religion

Manchester United is not just a football club for us. It is a religion. We have always seen our shrine (Old Trafford) bouncing no matter what the scoreboard said. There was always a unanimous and inevitable sense of belief that we will score. Wave after wave of United attack, players dying to get on the ball, fighting for every loose ball, winning all those fifty-fifty battles, turning the luck into their own favor by sheer grit and determination. All of this coupled with pieces of brilliance and inspiration used to suck the ball into the back of the net, no matter how.

You guys just seem to let all of this down. Terribly.

Trust us when we say this - We really don't expect you to win all the matches for us. We don't even expect you to start playing expansive tiki-taka football right from the word go. We don't expect you to win the league and the Champions League every year. Contrary to what the papers suggests, we are all experienced and ardent supporters to know that all of the above will take time, but what we least expect from you is to know which club you are representing, what it stands for, what its ethos are, what it demands and what you need to showcase on the pitch.

Manchester United stands for undying belief in itself. It stands for that never-say-die attitude even when all hope is gone. The resilience it offers in the face an adversity. The umpteen number of times it gets itself up after falling apart. The way it always rises like a phoenix from the ashes. It is in the fabric of this football club, in the soul of this football club - it just doesn't accept defeat.

We don't expect you to start performing miracles from next week, all we are looking for is a genuine and honest Manchester United players' performance where you give it your all for the entire ninety minutes. Showcase that desire and hunger to win games more than your opponents. Wear your heart on your sleeves.

When we see that all of you are ready to run every blade of grass and prefer to die out of breath than to lose - something we are accustomed to see from players at Old Trafford - we would be first ones to laud you off the pitch, regardless of the score.

There are millions of people across the world who would give away anything to play for Manchester United , but destiny has bestowed its blessings upon you. So from now on, don't ever let yourself down. Do it for yourselves, if not for us!

- An ardent Manchester United supporter