Emery Out! Plus, Serie A and FA Cup

Arsenal is so far behind other Premier League clubs in the vital "total managers" statistic that they're catching up by firing them before they're hired.  The Arteta Era was apparently short-lived, lasting just a few days.  We shall see if the Emery Era has more staying power.

I was fine with Arteta, and I think I'm fine with Emery.  He did great things at Sevilla with a budget that is less than Arsenal's, but was just OK at PSG, with a budget bigger than ours.  He's won stuff and he's managed some of the biggest egos in sport.  Ozil should be a walk in the park after Neymar.

Let's hope the board gets everything settled soon so the new man (whoever it is) can staff up.  This must mean that Pep gets his wish and he keeps Mikel by his side.  I hope the latter does not feel as though a rug has been yanked from under him.  I suspect that those rumors about his appointment being a done deal were not from anyone reliable, and Arteta was not counting on anything.

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Speaking of rug yanking, as a Roma fan, I had a ball watching Inter snatch the last Champions' League slot from Lazio in the final 15 minutes of their game.  (It was extra delicious that it was in Rome.)  The fascists needed only a draw and were up 2-1 in the 75th minute, but a penalty allowed the nerazzuri to draw even.  The next minute, a stupid sliding tackle as far from either goal as you can get earned one of the biancaceleste a second yellow, and a couple minutes after that, a corner produced the winning header for Inter. 

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In the epic battle between Alexis and Giroud for the FA Cup, the HFB prevailed in what turned (in the second half) into a pretty exciting game.  Hazard lost his marker (Herrera) and induced the luckless Phil Jones to foul him as he bore down on the world's best goalkeeper.  Hazard may have been a slight favorite to beat DeGea close in from a tight angle, but he was a big favorite to beat him from the spot, which he did.  Chelsea played with 10 or 11 behind the ball after that, but things did open up in the second half and both teams had good opportunities.  Giroud had a decent game, Sanchez a poor one (though his very good set piece deliveries deserved better from his teammates).  Mourinho was sad, so I was happy.  plus, we still have the most FA Cup wins, 13 to United's 12 (Spuds and Chavs have 8 each, I believe).