The Emirates has undoubtedly provided me with some great -and some not so great - Arsenal moments. Tottenham 3-1 = great moment, Blackburn 6-2 = great moment, Man Ure 2-1 = great moment, Pompey 2-2 = not so great, Reading 2-1 = great moment. But the most recent of these memories was the perfect microcosm of all the things that grind my nut about Arsenal. Arsenal 0-1 West Ham.

Hate 1: Missed Opportunities. Ten minutes into the game, we had passed away at least 5 (my brain unfortunately can only store memory of a few sitters) clear -cut chances, most notably a rare one -on -one for Fabregas, and a not so rare blast over the top from Adebayor -twice. Players of the highest calibre, being paid ridiculous sums of money (lets not get onto the argument about nurses’ wages) to put the ball into a target which, lets not mince our words here, IS FRICKIN’ HUGE. Basketball players manage just fine with their carrier bag sized target - Cricket bowlers can hit a stick - A STICK - from what is a fair distance away - so why can’t Adebayor, Hleb and co. do the same? (Hit their target I mean, not whack their balls into a stick -leave that to Cashley Hole!!)

The final product is something we have already, and will really miss from Thierry and Robin (Remember him?). I know that’s somewhat of an understatement, with their partnership proving most fruitful, but it is almost comical when compared with the Baptista - Aliadiere or Adebayor - Ljungberg partnerships which Wenger has since deployed. Lets be honest, they couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo, and their creativity when compared to that from Henry and Robin is like comparing Rondaldinho with Robbie “I’m ‘ard coz I’m Welsh” Savage.

However, it is more of worry that Arsenal has lacked midfield goals, and this has since proved critical. Think back to the successful Arsenal teams of the recent past -Overmars and Parlour 1998 (yes, the Romford Pele), Pires and Ljungberg 2002 and 2004 - all provided crucial interventions, by the truckload, which have arguably been the separating factor between the best and the rest. Look at Man United today - their top scorer is a midfielder (a cheating, diving, but magnificent player), and they are top of the league because of it. Chelsea - I share the typical Arsenal view on Fat Lumpard, but his goals, however deflected or penalty they are, have been somewhat important in securing them into the top two.

Hate 2: One Defensive error costing us the game. The one thing, the one single solitary thing that Arsenal had to deal with versus the ‘anmmers was Etherington’s long ball over the top to Zamora. The one thing which cost us this game and against West Ham at the Highbury - a defensive error, Sheffield United - a defensive error, Middlesboro - a defensive error. In all of these games, the opposition maximised upon the few chances which they had, and made us pay. I don’t know whether the defensive slips are all because of a sleepy defence in games in which they assume no work will be necessary, but there is definitely a growing trend: “in games which Arsenal are expected to win, we pile the pressure onto the opposition, without a great deal of direction, then one defensive slip causes them to score with their only chance.” I put in quotation marks because it has been said more times than “Yes Jordan, Katie Price, I will father an illegitimate child for you all for one night of passionate love making”. More accurately, those words of a growing trend have been said more times than “Oh man, Baptista is sh*t.” This leads me nicely to hate three.

> Hate 3: Faith in Julio Baptista. This man is the worst player to pull on an Arsenal shirt since Francis Jeffers, the man known by most as the “Fox in the box”. Different story altogether. Anyway, this player frustrates me in numerous ways. Firstly, he has >the first touch of a rapist. He has proven in numerous occasions how bad this touch is, and the only reason he scored against Liverpool and Tottenham, or in fact any of his goals (except Reading, which he bundled in flakily) was because he only had to touch it once for it to go in. Reason number two: he has as much pace as Titus Bramble. He chases balls, to his credit, but unfortunately, reason number 3 means he can’t win the ball. Reason 3: Beast? Are you having a laugh? His nickname hasn’t come from his muscular build and powerful game - it came from weakness to control the ball under pressure and his rather beastlike complexion. So there we have it. He can’t shoot, he can’t control, he can’t win the ball - so what makes the fact that he’s in our squad all the worse is that Arsene Wenger continues to play him game after game. Take the money for Reyes and buy someone you really want, Arsene.

Hate 4: Lack of Commitment. This statement is totally unfair for a large section of Arsenal players - but in the games which we have lost - and should have won - there have been distinct moments of uncommitment, discommitment or excommitment, whatever the way of saying a lack of commitment. Take Emmanuel Eboue - although MOTD viewers will not have seen this, a through pass on the wing was threaded into our first choice (?) right back, who checked his run and ran back into defence. Laziness? Probably. Frustration? Probably. Lack of commitment? Definitely. Eboue, when he doesn't play a magnificent 90 minutes, is carried by the rest of team, and the same can be said for Hleb and most other starters versus West Ham. It just so happened that today, everyone was on "can't be arsed for this" mode and played appallingly, bar a handful of players who showed some sort of urgency.

Hate 5: Fans leaving early (without legitimate excuse). I'm sure many of you didn't bother to read what I added into the brackets of my final hate, but it's an important comment. I love the Arsenal, to absolute bits, and will, without fail, sing as loud and as much as I can for the whole of the time Arsenal are on the pitch. However, there are some fans out there, who say they are fans, and leave as soon as the opposition score, it looks like a buried game, or the match is just plain sh*t. Fair dues if it is because you have to for reasons such as living in Outer Mongolia, or there about. But it's not them I'm talking about. It's the louts who couldn't get a ticket at Highbury, who sit and moan all day long preaching what they think is the absolute gospel, because they are experts, and then leave ten minutes early to get to their home light years away in Islington. Arsenal don't need fans like them, who obscure my view, getting in and out of games late, standing in the aisle with their girlfriends who don't give a f*ck about Arsenal, and then probably go home and tell their mates they know best 'coz I was there'. I know what I say is probably not statistically accurate, and I know that there are very legitimate arguments against what I say, but I am not trying to preach it as gospel - I'm just saying what I'm thinking.