Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, says that Gareth Bale has the potential to become the best left back in the entire Premier League.

Bale has managed to hold down a regular first team place in the Spurs side and has managed to create a significant impact. He is now part of the Spurs side and the manager does not see him being dropped for a long time.

Bale is also a regular international for the Wales senior side and is growing in experience and stature all the time. It could mark the start of a realising in potential that everyone has said he has for a long time.

Redknapp said: “Gareth is playing superbly, he’s been in great form. I didn’t want to shift him from the left-back position because he’s been outstanding there but we didn’t have many spare bodies at Fulham.”

“He can play wide left or left-back anyway, he can do both jobs and he was a real threat. He’s in great form and is full of confidence.”

“He’s got bigger and stronger and people forget he’s still only a young lad. He’s toughened up a lot, his attitude is stronger, he’s physically stronger, mentally stronger and he has terrific ability, pace, a great left foot – he’s got everything.”

“I think he will go on to be one of the best left-backs or left-sided players in the modern game.”

Spurs are still fighting on a number of fronts but the thing they will want more than any thing by the end of the season is to hang onto fourth place and break into the Champions League for the first time.

This will be difficult though because there are many teams who are currently trying to achieve this. Bale will play a big role in the run in if Spurs are going to get into fourth place and hold the fort.

What Bale does so well is defend from the first part of the game to the last. He then looks to try and get forward to provide another attacking outlet whenever he can. His form has started to mirror Chelsea’s Ashley Cole when he plays at his best.

Bale also has a deadly left foot, which Spurs have been using to deliver balls from free kicks and set plays. Bale would probably be the first to admit that he does not score enough goals but that will come with time and patience.

Since he made the move from Southampton, a former club of Redknapp, he has grown slowly. It is only recently that he has managed to burst into the side and make big contributions.

Whether or not he can hold this down and continue it over a longer period of time remains to be seen.

He has become a crowd favourite at White Hart Lane and there do not seem to be any signs of Bale’s form stopping just yet. Provided he stays injury free, the future is bright.

Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, says his side are fully aware of the threat that David Beckham poses on his return to Old Trafford.

Beckham travels as part of an AC Milan side looking to cancel out a 3-2 lead they conceded in the first leg of the tie, which was played in Milan.

Beckham could start the match as he did not play a full 90 minutes in Milan’s draw against Roma at the weekend and Ferguson still clearly rates him as one of the best dead ball takers in the whole world.

He said: “It is difficult to say what effect David will have on the tie because we don’t know whether he is going to start, but the one thing with him that you have to be aware of is his delivery of the ball, it’s fantastic.”

“I think David’s strength has always been his crossing and his set-piece play, that doesn’t change, and if he plays, that will be the threat against us.”

“We will try to do it in our normal way. Winning in Milan for the first time was a landmark victory for us. It was a psychological thing, but I don’t think we should be confused by the 3-2 scoreline. It does not represent a bye into the quarter-finals. What we need is an early goal because with the advantage of away goals in the San Siro, Milan would then find themselves in a very difficult position.”

“Credit must go to Wayne and his rise in the game. I just wish I had the two of them [Rooney and Ronaldo] there.”

Leonardo added: “It’s incredible to see the way he has developed and matured (Rooney). Maybe it has something to do with Cristiano Ronaldo leaving. He has had to step up.”

Milan will have to come to Manchester and attack from the off. They will have to score at least two goals if they are to stand any chance of winning this game and that means an uphill climb from the first whistle.

That also means keeping United quiet at the other end. If the home team manage to get the first goal then it could virtually signal the end of the tie. However, there is still a lot of football to be played.

Funnier things have happened and United will want to see off Milan in style and send out a message to the rest of the European teams still in the Champions League.

Milan have the experience but they are lacking the special extra edge, which a player like Rooney will give to United. They have ageing players all over the pitch who have been here before but it could take some moments of magic to make the difference.

Milan cannot concede an early goal. They probably need to be 2-0 up by half time if they are going to get through this game. If they get two goals and defend, it could be difficult for them to hold out.

Arsene Wenger says he is hoping to draw an English team and get some revenge during the quarter final stage of the Champions League.

His Arsenal side romped to a 5-0 win over Porto last night and showed why they are still the best football side in Europe when they decide to get the ball down and play football.

Niklas Bendtner scored a hat trick as the team did not look as though there were any hang overs from the first leg defeat they suffered on a long and miserable night in the Portuguese city.

Wenger said: “I have a funny feeling that maybe it is good for us to play an English team. We have not done well against Chelsea and not done well against United this year, and it will be a good opportunity to show that we can do it against them.”

“It’s a good opportunity if we get them to show we can do well. If I had a choice I would say yes. If we get them we cannot do worse than we did in the championship, we can only do better.”

“It shows first of all how quickly football changes, but I hope it will not give him too much confidence. I’m happy for him because he had a good game on Saturday but missed chances, and today he had less chances and scored three goals.”

“It’s good for his confidence, but I hope it gives him the desire to work even harder. His confidence level is always stable. He has the size and presence we need. We’re usually a short team, so someone with size is important, offensively and defensively.”

Arsenal are a very difficult side to try and predict when they play in Europe. They are capable of performances like this but they are equally capable of falling short when teams work them out and counter attack their style of play.

Wenger may say that he wants to play an English side but deep down there will probably be a small part of him that hopes to avoid the possibility. For now they will bask in this latest glory.

Bendtner added: “Sometimes it’s one of those days [against Burnley] and today I put it right. I’m happy with my hat-trick, but tomorrow we move on.”

“It will give us a lot of confidence. We want to win the Champions League. It’s something we haven’t done. We scored all our chances today, which is very positive.”

Arsenal are still fighting for glory in the Premier League as well as Europe and there may come a point in the near future where the club have to focus on trying to win just one.

Their squad is not big enough to win both of these competitions and Porto were one of the weaker teams left in the running to lift the Champions League trophy.

Arsenal need to stay grounded after this win because it will be easy to get carried away with the score the way it was.

Arsenal will have to claw back a one goal deficit if they are to beat Porto and make it into the quarter final stages of the Champions League.

The Gunners currently trail 2-1 in the tie against the Portuguese side and will need to work hard to get back into the game quickly.

They have the advantage of an away goal but they still have a number of key players missing from the clash who would have been vitally important. Cesc Fabregas has said that he intends to be involved even though he is carrying a painful injury at present.

The other big worry for Arsenal is not have William Gallas to play in defence. Porto have a very talented attacking team and that was displayed during the first leg of this exciting game.

Arsene Wenger said: “I do not think anyone will be complacent. We know it will be a tricky game, but we believe we can do it. We have good confidence, we are in a good position, so let’s go for it.”

Jesualdo Ferreira added: “We know what our qualities are and we are confident. This will be a very difficult match, but we have the weapons which make it tough for Arsenal. You need to be able to adapt tactically, but we are always playing to win. We will try to do the same what we did at Estadio do Dragao.”

Arsenal will just have to mix up their team a little bit until they find a combination, which will be effective enough to get through the Porto defence that comes to visit the Emirates.

Arsenal will also want to eradicate the memory of the first leg, which saw them give away a bizarre goal from an indirect free kick.

This was the goal, which has put Porto ahead and they will be high on confidence after recent visits to England. They managed to get a draw against Manchester United in the same stage of the competition last season and then narrowly missed out in Portugal during the second game.

The game plan for Arsenal is really quite simple. They need to go out and get ahead in the game very quickly. This will allow them to start expressing themselves and play the football they are famous for.

If they try to pass the ball into the net then it could be a very long night for them. Porto will look to come and defend their lead first, which will mean a well organise defence that is hard to break down.

They also need to keep things tight at the back because if Porto get ahead early in the game then it will be a pretty big mountain that they have to climb.

If you’re a betting person you would probably put your cash on Arsenal as they should be good enough in their own ground to do what they need to get through.

Things do not appear to be getting any better for Liverpool with a defeat at the hands of Wigan and a brand new controversy for Steven Gerrard.

The Liverpool captain appeared to make an insulting gesture towards referee, Andre Marriner, during the match last night after he was booked for sliding into a challenge a little too late.

Marriner talked to the player and booked him before Gerrard appeared to make a v sign at the referee while he was backing away from the incident.

It is just the thing that Rafa Benitez said recently that he was looking to avoid as he tries to gear up his side for a difficult run in to the current Premier League campaign. Liverpool’s frailties were once again exposed.

Benitez said: “I don’t know, I was too far away. We have to be really disappointed. After a defeat always you cannot be happy, but after a defeat in this way … the first half we didn’t do anything. We gave the ball away, we didn’t win any first or second ball and that is difficult to explain.”

“I think it was a question of attitude in the first half. Sometimes we played too quickly, we were in too much of a hurry. It was a poor half. In the second half there was a much better attitude, but it was not enough.”

“We had some chances but we didn’t play well. If you approach the game in this kind of way you cannot win this kind of game — or maybe any game. Everyone is very low. There are too many things we cannot understand.”

You would have to say that based on this result, Liverpool will not be playing Champions League football next season.

The point is that when big teams play well but do not score too many goals, they always manage to find a way to win the game. This often leads to a number of valuable points by the time the end of the season arrives.

Liverpool simply cannot afford any more mistakes and they will have to rely on the teams above them to make their own. The only problem is that these teams very rarely make such mistakes.

No doubt the club will let the Gerrard row wash over like water off of a duck’s back but the point is that they just do not seem to be going anywhere quickly. The club need to start winning and stay out of the headlines for all of the wrong reasons.

Wigan will be pleased that they managed to battle through a game they would have been expected to lose. Roberto Martinez has been coming under a lot of pressure himself and this will result will go a long way to acting as a pressure release valve.

Wigan need a few more points to maintain their security in the Premier League and they’ll be happy they have bagged another three and stayed out of the limelight.

A Martin O’Neill half time blasting was enough to help Aston Villa come through a potentially tricky FA Cup tie against Reading.

Villa scored four times in the second half after they conceded a 2-0 lead to Reading yesterday. A number of players have said it is the angriest they have ever seen the manager and it seems his strong words did just the trick.

Villa did not get off to the start they would have been hoping for and took far too long to get into the game. It was clear that maybe the players had an eye on other things but total loyalty is something the Villa boss demands.

Striker, John Carew, said: “We were struggling in the first half and the gaffer told us some serious words at the break. I won’t go into what he said but you can see on the pitch what happened. After last week we are more determined. Now we know what Wembley’s all about, we really want to get to a final again. Of course, the experience was not good for us, but we have a big chance to get back there.”

Midfield player, Ashley Young, added: “There were a few tough words at half-time. Our first-half performance wasn’t as good as it could have been and he [O’Neill] told us that.”

“We knew we had a job to do in the second half and I think, if you look at it, we were brilliant. It showed the character and team spirit we’ve got. We said we had to start brightly, get an early goal and get them on the back foot and we did that. Then John was sensational.”

The result looks very fitting when you take into equation how well Villa have been playing this year. There is the strong chance they will make it to another domestic cup final and the shout of a Champions League place is not fading away either.

O’Neill is a very smart manager and there can be no doubt that he would not have gone off at his players if he did not feel as though it was worth it. Sometimes it takes players a little time to get into games.

Once Aston Villa started playing with a lot of the class they are capable of. There was no question that they would get a result. Reading could not cope with the pace and movement, which Villa have in abundance.

O’Neill himself said: “The players are very fine players and I don’t think it was necessary to say anything. They know how second best they were in the first half and didn’t need reminding of that. Reading played very well and I was quite pleased we went in just 2-0 behind. The team performance in the second half was terrific.”

It was obviously a case of the under dogs trying to come out so quickly that they just could not keep up the pace, which may have been the thing that kept Villa at bay throughout the whole match.

Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, is demanding focus ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League run in.

The manager has been under a lot of pressure and scrutiny in recent weeks because the fans have been saying the club doesn’t seem to be going any where under his management.

Liverpool have not been playing attractive football for a very long time and Benitez is demanding the focus, which is the only thing that has kept them in with a shout of securing a Champions League place for next year.

He said: “Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa will be very dangerous so we cannot make many mistakes. We know last year was really good in terms of points in the league (86) and now we are in a different and more difficult situation because the expectations were very high.”

“It is really difficult because we have three or four teams really close. We have to keep this momentum and prove, show everyone else, we are good enough. I prefer to be positive and we will play well and continue to win.”

“We had problems on the right side (against Blackburn) with Mascherano playing full-back, which was a difficult decision. All the teams have good and bad moments, but they still have to carry on and go forward. If you analyse some games we have had too many injuries with big names unable to play.”

It is very difficult to see Liverpool hanging onto the fourth place position, which they have made their own for so very long. There are too many sides around them in better form who are capable of causing a huge upset and breaking into the top four.

Liverpool also do not look like a side who are in full sync with each other. There are too many injuries appearing in too many areas of the side, which will cost the team when the points are totted up at the end of the year.

The situation for them is quite a complex one to sort out. The ownership problems that once plagued the club do not seem to be a problem any more but the weakness of the over all squad definitely is.

There is still too much reliance on too few players at the club and it will take everyone pulling together to make the situation look much brighter for the club.

The problem is that Liverpool are playing the sort of football that a lot of lower league teams are well known for. When you use this style against a team that knows it inside out, it becomes very hard to win games and rack up points.

Benitez talks of focus and this means focus in every aspect of football. Liverpool will have to produce moments of pure quality, which have been lacking if they want to be the side that hangs onto that final Champions League position. It is a race that is certain to go right down to the final day of the season.