Unai Emery, Master of Alienation

Yesterday, Arsenal held Leicester City to a 0-0 tie until late, falling 2-0. It was yet another game thrown away by the stupid managing of Unai Emery.

The team is now in 6th place in the Premier League, with 17 points, 17 behind League leaders Liverpool, 8 points out of 4th place and qualification for next season's Champions League, and only 9 points above the relegation zone.

It is, statistically, the worst 12-game start to a League season for Arsenal since 1982.

An Arsenal fan asked me, "How did it come to this?"

Here's how: A small, very stupid minority of the Arsenal fanbase abused manager Arsène Wenger, until even his great patience ran out, and he decided he should no longer have to take it, and he quit. The team's board of directors finally did what they'd been asked to do many times, and hired a flavor of the month.

Those idiot fans always wanted Wenger fired -- or "sacked," as they tend to say in England. They kept saying some "Flavor of the Month" would be a better manager than Wenger. Jurgen Klopp. Thomas Tuchel. Andre Villas-Boas. Martin O'Neill. David Moyes. Owen Coyle. Eddie Howe. Sean Dyche.

When Arsène quit, in April 2018, the Flavor of the Month was Unai Emery. Now, the month is over. Or, if you prefer, his 15 minutes of fame are up.

He has already alienated Aaron Ramsey, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Danny Welbeck, Carl Jenkinson and Alex Iwobi to the point where they wanted to be transferred to other teams, and have been. He has already alienated Mesut Özil, normally a very patient man and the best player Emery has ever managed, to the point where, when subbed off during the disastrous loss to Chelsea in last season's Europa League Final, he yelled at Emery, "Wallahi, you are not a coach!" ("Wallahi" is an Arabic word, effectively meaning, "I swear to God!")

And Emery appears to be alienating his 2 world-class strikers, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (whose goals have turned draws into wins and losses into draws, and have basically saved Emery's job so far) and Alexandre Lacazette. And alienating his 2 good central defensive midfielders, the veteran Granit Xhaka and the young Matteo Guendouzi.

Before even turning to her studio pundits after yesterday's game, NBC Sports' Rebecca Lowe said, "What progress since Arsène Wenger left? Any? One thing I can tell you: Arsenal have won 87 points in their 1st 50 Premier League games under Unai Emery, 1 fewer than they won in their last 50 under Arsène Wenger."

"Give him time," said the people who hated Wenger so much, and didn't want to look like idiots by not standing by his replacement.

Emery has been given time. He needs to be given his walking papers. There is an international break now. Now is the time to do it (if the day after the Europa League Final was too soon), and let assistant manager Freddie Ljungberg, a former Arsenal star, manage until a more experienced manager can be hired. If Freddie does well, keep him. If not, someone else should be available soon.

But the decision has to be made now. Never mind the £6 million that firing Emery would cost the organization. Failing to qualify for the Champions League will cost £40 million.

Fire him, Josh Kroenke. Do it now. Before the Master of Alienation finishes the job.

*

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 5, on Friday night at 7:00, against Canada, in CONCACAF Nations League play, at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, home of MLS' Orlando City SC, hoping to avenge their 1st loss to Canada since 1985. Four days later, they play away to Cuba.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 6, on Saturday, at noon, home to... oy vey... The... Ohio State University. Oh well, at least they beat Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.

Days until Arsenal play again: 13, on Saturday, November 23, home to Hampshire team Southampton.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 20, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Under 3 weeks.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 20, on Saturday afternoon, November 30 at 1:00, against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, at the Prudential Center. The next game against the New York Islanders will be on Thursday, January 2, 2020, at the Barclays Center. The next game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, will be on Thursday, February 6, at the Wells Fargo Center.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 38, on December 18, 2019. Under 6 weeks.

Days until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 40, on December 20, 2019.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 72, on January 21, 2020. A little over 10 weeks.

Days until the 1st Presidential voting of 2020, the Iowa Caucuses: 85, on Monday, February 3. A little over 12 weeks. The New Hampshire Primary will be 8 days later.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: Unknown. They washed out of the MLS Cup Playoffs, blowing a lead and losing to the Philadelphia Union. Going by recent history, the 2020 MLS season would probably begin on the 1st Saturday in March, and the Red Bulls would play the next day, which would be March 8, which would be in 119 days. A little under 4 months.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": See the previous answer. It is unlikely that their opener will be against one of their regional rivals: The Union, New York City FC, D.C. United and the New England Revolution.

Days until the Yankees' 2020 Opening Day: 137, on Thursday, March 26, away to the Baltimore Orioles. Under 5 months. And it's going to be a very long, hard, cold 5 months.

Days until the Yankees' 2020 home opener: 144, on Thursday, April 2, against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Days until the next North London Derby: 167, on Saturday, April 25, Arsenal's 1st visit to the new Tottenham Stadium, adjacent to the site of the previous White Hart Lane. A little under 6 months. It is currently scheduled to be on the 16th Anniversary of the 2nd time that Arsenal won the League at White Hart Lane -- but also the last time Arsenal won the League anywhere. Of course, for TV reasons, the game could be moved to another date, probably the next day.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 180, on May 8, 2020, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 6 months. 

Days until Euro 2020 begins, a tournament being held all over Europe instead of in a single host nation: 215, on Friday, June 12, 2020. A little over 7 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 257, on July 24, 2020. Under 9 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, as the 2019 season is over, with a 4-5 record, and the 2020 schedule has not been released yet. Most likely, the season opener will be against arch-rival Old Bridge, on Friday night, September 11, away at the purple shit pit on Route 9. That's 306 days, or 11 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge football game: See the previous answer.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 359, on November 3, 2020. Under 1 year, or under 12 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 420, on January 3, 2021. A little over a year, or under 14 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 437, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little over a year, or under 15 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 817, on February 4, 2022. A little over 2 years, or under 27 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,107, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. A little over 3 years, or just over 36 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.

Days until the next Women's World Cup is scheduled to kick off: As yet unknown, but probably on the 2nd Friday in June 2023, which would be June 9. That would be 1,307 days, a little over 3 1/2 years, or under 43 months. A host nation is expected to be chosen on March 20, 2020. Since 2 of the last 3 host nations have been in Europe, North America (Canada) hosted in 2015, and Asia (China) hosted in 2007, my guess is that it will be in either Asia (Japan, possibly Korea, but not China) or Oceania (Australia, possibly a joint bid with New Zealand).

How Long It's Been: Arsenal Beat Manchester United at Old Trafford

Left to right: Tomas Rosicky,

Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure

Today -- tonight, local time -- Arsenal defeated Manchester United 2-1, at Man U's historic ground, Old Trafford, and knocked them out of the FA Cup.

Arsenal advance to the Semifinal, to play the winner of the Quarterfinal replay between Reading and Bradford City. The other Semifinal will be between Birmingham-based Aston Villa and the winner of the Quarterfinal replay between Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers.

Old Trafford -- also known as the Theatre of Dreams if you love United, Old Tramsheds or Old Trashdump if you have taste -- has been a house of horrors for Arsenal. Although they clinched the League title there in 2002, and a key win there in 1998 set them on the path to winning the title, they'd lost some big games there, often with the "assistance" of United-friendly officials. This includes a notorious August 2009 defeat engineered by referee Mike Dean, a Vladimir Putin lookalike; and the last FA Cup match between the clubs before this game, a 2011 Quarterfinal.

Even the retirement of longtime United boss Alex Ferguson -- I refuse to give that corrupt bastard the knighthood title "Sir" -- didn't stop that, as they beat Arsenal last season, despite having their worst season in over 30 years.

This time, referee Michael Oliver didn't fall (if you'll pardon the choice of words) for United's cheating. Dives were executed by Ashley Young, Adnan Januzaj and Angel Di Maria, their major midseason pickup. (But not, oddly, by United captain and diver extraordinaire Wayne Rooney, who scored their only goal.) With Arsenal up 2-1 thanks to goals by left back Ignacio "Nacho" Monreal (his 1st goal in 2 years) and former United player Danny Welbeck (thanks to 2 major defensive lapses), Di Maria dove (or is it correct, in this sport, to say, "dived"?), and Oliver correctly gave Di Maria a yellow card.

Then, Di Maria did the one thing you must never do to an official: He touched him. Put his hand on him. United players, and Rooney in particular, have surrounded referees for years in the hope of intimidating them into giving them favorable calls, and have even cursed them out. But they don't touch the refs. Di Maria did, and, less than 30 seconds after receiving his 1st yellow card, he received his 2nd: Automatically, a sending-off (thrown out of the game) and a 1-game suspension, taking effect with United's next domestic game. (In other words, their next game, since they didn't qualify for Europe at all this season, for the 1st time in over 20 years.)

I wasn't born yet when man first landed on the Moon. I have, however, seen in my lifetime the fall of the Berlin Wall and the election of a black President of the United States. Now, I have seen the sending-off of a Manchester United player, at Old Trafford, against Arsenal, with Arsenal leading.

Even a "Fergie Time" of 5 minutes' stoppage time added at the end of the 2nd half couldn't help the bastards. Full-Time, Manchester United 1-2 Arsenal.

The Manc dragon has been slain. Along with Arsenal having beaten Manchester City away earlier this season, the old saw, "Arsenal can't win big games away" has been shattered.

The last Arsenal win at Old Trafford was on September 17, 2006. That's 8 years, 5 months and 16 days. How long has that been?

*

Here are the starting lineups for the teams on that day: 

Manchester United: Tomasz Kuszczak; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Mikael Silvestre; Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, John O'Shea, Cristiano Ronaldo; Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha. Silvestre was injured, and was replaced in the 23rd minute by Patrice Evra. Rooney was subbed off in the 77th for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. And Scholes was subbed off in the 78th by Paul Carrick.

Of these players, only Rooney and Carrick are still playing for United, and both were in the game tonight. Neville, Scholes, Saha and Solskjaer have retired. (So have Ryan Giggs and Neville's brother Phil, who were injured and thus unavailable for this game.)

Arsenal: Jens Lehmann; Emmanuel Eboue, Johan Djourou, Kolo Toure, William Gallas; Tomas Rosicky, Freddie Ljungberg, Gilberto Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Aleksandr Hleb; Emmanuel Adebayor. Hleb was subbed off for Julio Baptista in the 68th, while Adebayor, who scored the game's only goal in the 86th, was subbed off for the defense-minded Mathieu Flamini in the 88th, as Wenger tried to hold the lead.

Of these players, only Rosicky is still with Arsenal, although Flamini left and has returned; neither got into today's game. Also still with Arsenal is Theo Walcott, an unused substitute that day and also today. Lehmann and Ljungberg have retired, as has Thierry Henry, who was injured and unavailable for this game. Current Arsenal star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was 13, and Gedion Zelalem was 9.

Despite the win, Arsenal, in its 1st season in the Emirates Stadium after 93 years at the Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for its neighborhood, would only finish 4th in the Premier League, while United won it again. The FA Cup, then held by Liverpool, would be won by Chelsea, who would also win the League Cup, becoming only the 3rd team to win both domestic cups in the same season -- the "Cup Double." Arsenal did it in 1993, and Liverpool in 2001.

Chelsea beat Arsenal in the League Cup Final, despite Arsenal's Abou Diaby kicking Chelsea's despicable captain John Terry in the face and knocking him out of the game. It was an accident, of course: Knowing Diaby, if he'd tried it on purpose, he not only would have failed, but injured himself in the process.

Adebayor would later leave Arsenal under dubious circumstances, and make an annoyance of himself against Arsenal for both Manchester City and Arsenal's North London arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

Yorkshire club Sheffield United, South London club Charlton Athletic, and Hertfordshire club Watford were relegated out of the Premier League at the end of that 2006-07 season, and haven't returned since. Manchester area clubs Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic, Berkshire club Reading, Hampshire club Portsmouth and North-East club Middlesbrough were also in the Premiership then, but are not now.

Alex Ferguson has since retired as Man U manager, replaced by David Moyes, Giggs, and Louis Van Gaal. Wenger is the only Premiership manager still managing the club he was managing at the time. Of the captains of the 20 teams in the League that season, only Terry and, until the end of this season, Steven Gerrard of Liverpool are still captains of the same team. Indeed, most of the other 18 captains are retired now.

The previous May, Arsenal had fallen to Barcelona, in controversial circumstances, in the UEFA Champions League Final. The MLS Cup had been won by the Houston Dynamo. The New York Red Bulls, who had been the New York/New Jersey MetroStars until the year before, made the Playoffs despite a losing record.

Football legends Alan Ball, Bobby Robson, Nat Lofthouse, Bill Foulkes and Tom Finney of England; Ian Porterfield and Dave Mackay of Scotland; Gary Speed of Wales; Enzo Bearzot and Giorgio Chinaglia of Italy; Helmut Haller, Ottmar Walter, Bert Trautmann and Udo Lattek of Germany; Ferenc Puskás and Gyula Grosics of Hungary; Nils Liedholm of Sweden; Fyodor Cherenkov of Russia; Eusébio and Mário Coluna of Mozambique by way of Portugal; Alfredo Di Stéfano of Argentina; and Sócrates, Djalma Santos, Gilmar, Nílton dos Santos and Hilderaldo Bellini of Brazil were all still alive. Now, none of those is.

Current Man United manager Louis van Gaal was managing AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands. New York Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch was managing the ill-fated Chivas USA in the Los Angeles area. New York City FC manager Jason Kreis was playing for Real Salt Lake.

Tom Coughlin of the Giants was the only manager of a New York Tri-State Area team that's still got that job. Joe Girardi of the Yankees was managing the Florida Marlins. Terry Collins of the Mets was managing in Japan. Alain Vigneault of the Rangers had just become head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. Todd Bowles of the Jets was the defensive backs coach for the Dallas Cowboys. Lionel Hollins of the Nets was an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies. John Hynes of the Devils was coaching with the U.S. national hockey team. Jack Capuano of the Islanders was an assistant coach for their farm team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. And Derek Fisher of the Knicks was playing for the Utah Jazz.

The reigning World Champions in the major North American sports were the Chicago White Sox, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Miami Heat (with Dwayne Wade but not yet with LeBron James) and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Heavyweight Championship of the World was heavily fractured between 5 governing bodies, and none of the pretenders could be taken seriously as the champ.

The monarch of Great Britain was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed -- while the Prime Minister was Tony Blair. The Prime Minister of Canada was Stephen Harper. The President of the United States was George W. Bush. His father George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, their wives, and the widow of Lyndon Johnson were all still alive.

The Mayor of London was Ken Livingstone, and of Manchester David Sandiford, having recently succeeded to the office upon the death of James Ashley. The Mayor of New York City was Michael Bloomberg, the Governor of New York was George Pataki (about to give way to Eliot Spitzer), and the Governor of New Jersey was Jon Corzine.

Same-sex marriage was legal in Massachusetts. Most other States were willing to settle for something called "civil unions," as long as it wasn't called "marriage." For millions of Americans, the idea that two people of the same gender could marry each other was ridiculous. Then again, so was the idea that corporations were "people" and entitled to the same rights thereof.

The Olympic Games have since been held in China, Canada, Britain and Russia. The World Cup had just been held in Germany, with Italy winning, and has since been held in South Africa and Brazil.

There were still living veterans of World War I, the Mexican Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, Mussolini's March On Rome, and the Irish and Turkish Wars of Independence. There were still living survivors of the sinking of the Titanic and the Lusitania, and the Ludlow Massacre.

The Pope was Benedict XVI. The current Pope, Francis, was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and the President of the Argentine Episcopal Conference. There have since been 2 Presidents of the United States, 2 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 2 Popes.

There had been 6 Harry Potter novels and 4 A Song of Ice and Fire novels; but while 4 Harry Potter movies had been released, Game of Thrones had not yet premiered on television.

Two major films releases that month looked at a pair of long-ago Los Angeles murders: The Black Dahlia (1947) and that of Superman actor George Reeves in Hollywoodland (1959). Remakes of The Wicker Man with Nicolas Cage and All the King's Men with Sean Penn did not fare well, either critically or commercially. The Queen premiered, starring Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II, dealing with the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana 9 years earlier.

Daniel Craig was about to debut as James Bond in Casino Royale. Brandon Routh had made his one and only appearance as Superman, Christian Bale was now Batman, Tobey Maguire was still Spider-Man, and David Tennant was The Doctor. No one had yet heard of Don Draper, Walter White, Jax Teller, Katniss Everdeen, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope or Sarah Manning.

The Walt Disney Company, which owned both ABC and ESPN, had just moved Monday Night Football, one of the premier franchises of the former, to the latter for its 37th season. NBC had just debuted Sunday Night Football. The Rachel Ray Show, Jericho, Brothers & Sisters, Heroes, and the U.S. version of Ugly Betty all debuted that month. Dexter, Friday Night Lights and 30 Rock would debut the next month.

The Number 1 song in America was "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake. I said at the time that if he's bringing sexy back, that's an endorsement for homeliness. Weird Al Yankovic had his 1st Top 10 hit after nearly 30 years of song parodies, turning Chamillionaire's "Ridin'" (a.k.a. "Ridin' Dirty") into "White & Nerdy."

John Mayer released Continuum. Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie released her 1st solo album, The Dutchess. Tower Records was liquidated, saddening audiophiles throughout the New York Tri-State Area. Its main store was in Manhattan's East Village, just around the corner from legendary music club CBGB, which also closed, with club legend Patti Smith playing the final show.

Inflation has been such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.16 would buy now. Or, more to the point of the country in question, what £1.00 bought then, £1.33 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 39 cents, and a New York Subway ride $2.00. The average price of a gallon of gas was $2.63, a cup of coffee $2.30, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $6.79, a movie ticket $6.42, a new car $23,629, and a new house $308,100. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the previous Friday at 11,560.77.

Twitter and YouTube had recently debuted, but most people were only becoming aware of them and hadn't logged on. Facebook was still a relatively new phenomenon, and MySpace was still more popular. Most mobile phones were still of the flip-open variety. Sony PlayStation 2 and Xbox were battling to be the leading home video game system.

As Summer turned to Fall in 2006, Australian TV legend Steve Irwin was killed while filming a segment for his wildlife show. Nineteen people were shot in an attempted massacre at a Montreal college; just 1 died. A coup removed the Prime Minister of Thailand from power. A plane collision over the Amazon jungle of Brazil killed 155 people. Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, for their "microloans," were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. And the International Astronomical Union redefined what is a "planet," demoting Pluto, reducing the population of our solar system from 9 full planets to 8.

Golf legend Byron Nelson, and 2-time Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias, and Italian soccer legend Giacinto Facchetti died. No one particularly famous yet was born, but the world had, for the most part, not yet heard of the Kardashian sisters (except maybe Kim as Paris Hilton's friend), Justin Bieber and the "stars" of Jersey Shore.

September 17, 2006. Arsenal went to Manchester United's home ground of Old Trafford, and won.

Now, it has happened again. Man U's last serious chance at a trophy is gone, and Arsenal's last serious chance at a trophy just got a lot more serious, as they head to the Semifinal, at the new Wembley Stadium. "We're the famous Arsenal, and we're going to Wemberly!"