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After a rollercoaster season at White Hart Lane, it is time to start analysing the hiccups along the way.

Gareth Bale’s stunning performances defined last season and without him, Tottenham potentially would not have finished with their highest points tally in the Premier League. Therefore the work of Andre Villas-Boas was hypothetically not an integral part to their success.

The beginning of Spurs’ season would support this claim, with the eventual downfall of the Portuguese manager happening on the 16th December 2013 – highlighting that perhaps the Premier League  just isn’t right for AVB.

Was there another Premier League manager that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy could have approached?

With AVB secured as manager in 2012 (the same year as Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool), Roberto Martinez was still in his final year at Wigan Athletic, desperately plugging away in the bid to avoid relegation to the Championship, whilst at the same time, playing some stylish and classy football.

Tottenham’s appointment of Villas-Boas signified that the north Londoners were on the prowl for a youthful approach to management and the selection of the former Porto manager should have been carried with caution when considering his negative stint at London rivals, Chelsea.

Roberto Martinez always stated that it was his intention to keep Wigan in the top division, however after four years of the same tireless quest, would it have been best suited for his career to move to a club challenging at the higher level of the league with money to spend? Martinez was most likely the youthful reformist that Spurs were looking for.

Eventually, the Spaniard left Wigan after failing to avoid the drop. He managed to secure a move to replace David Moyes as the manager of Everton and career-wise, Everton was an intelligent move.

However, had Martinez have left a year previously, he would have ended his spell with the Latics as having successfully manoeuvred them to safety. Tottenham should have moved for Martinez instead of AVB, with the club’s tradition and heritage matching perfectly with the former’s footballing philosophy.

Tactically, Roberto Martinez and Tottenham would be an ideal fit. Martinez often adopts a 4-2-3-1 shape that relies on strong tacklers which, with Tottenham, would suit the likes of Sandro, Nabil Bentaleb, Etienne Capoue and Paulinho – with each player able to hold the midfield well and place a strong challenge should it be necessary – as was shown by Bentaleb’s show-stopping performance against Newcastle in Spurs’ 4-0 win last week.

The former Wigan boss also enjoys a team with skilful passers in the attacking third as is often exhibited by Steven Pienaar, Ross Barkley and Bryan Oviedo at Everton.

Should Martinez have been installed rather than AVB, Spurs could have potentially seen their former Dutch magician Rafael van der Vaart pulling the strings in the final third, if he had chosen to remain at White Hart Lane. With the existing squad, Martinez could see the likes of Paulinho, Christian Eriksen and Lewis Holtby implementing their skilful passing into this structure.

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Yet another trait that Martinez holds is his tactical flexibility, something Tottenham players were all too used to under AVB.  At Wigan, Roberto successfully operated a 3-5-2 formation at times and with multiple players at the north London club able to rotate (such as Vertonghen and Capoue) Martinez would have a wealth of options at his disposal.

Had Martinez taken over in 2012, the outcome of the season wouldn’t have panned out too differently to how it did under AVB. Spurs were fairly busy in the summer of 2012 securing acquisitions such as Jan Vertonghen, Emmanuel Adebayor (permanently) and Hugo Lloris.

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With Daniel Levy personally dipping into Tottenham’s transfer strategy, it’s possible to suggest that Spurs would have secured these players with any manager in charge, therefore whether it was AVB or Martinez wouldn’t have mattered;  the squad for 2012/13 would have remained the same.

However, the season of last could be contributed to Gareth Bale’s constant player of the year performances and the ability of AVB is therefore debatable considering that the Welsh wizard was evidently the reason for their record points tally in the league. With Martinez in charge, Spurs could have gone on to even greater things, with a manager eager to prove himself in a position he could feasibly hold for many years.

Had Spurs appointed Martinez, we could be looking at a very different Tottenham side with a manager of equal ambition to match the forever attractive philosophy of playing ‘the Spurs way’.

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We all think of footballers as well paid individuals and indeed they are. If a Premier League star invests his money correctly, then there’s a good chance he’d never have to work again for the rest of his life. However, a football career isn’t exactly a job for life, as you never know when injury or loss of form may strike that could result in your career plummeting to depths of horrendous lows.

It’s wise therefore, for players to have some sort of other interests outside of football, to keep them occupied off the field, but also to earn a living if things go wrong. The vast majority of players just invest their money into property or start life as a media pundit, but others take a more interesting route and immerse themselves in something a little different. We bring you 15 footballers with a different life outside the game that you should definitely know about.

Click on Stuart Pearce to unveil the 15

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Roma’s Brazilian international goalkeeper and Liverpool transfer target Alisson prefers Real Madrid as a destination this summer, according to Marca, via the Daily Mail. 

What’s the story, then?

The report claims that Liverpool are prepared to pay £60m for the stopper but he wants to move to the Bernabeu instead of Anfield and the departure of Zinedine Zidane in the Spanish capital raises the prospect of the Brazilian moving there this summer to replace Keylor Navas, someone the Frenchman staunchly defended.

It goes on to say that Florentino Perez wants a new big-name goalkeeper to upgrade on Navas and make a statement of intent and that Alisson fits the bill after a stellar season with the Champions League semi-finalists.

They also report that Alisson is prepared to wait for the managerial situation at Real to settle down and become clear, which is also frustrating for Liverpool who wanted to get the deal done before the World Cup.

Attention must turn elsewhere

Liverpool have seen how South American players can be drawn in by the lustre of the two Spanish giants in the past and if they wait around for Alisson, they face being disappointed and slightly embarrassed.

Thankfully for them, two other top goalkeepers – Jan Oblak and Jasper Cillessen – do not have the arbitrary World Cup deadline looming over them, allowing a deal to be thrashed out on Liverpool’s terms.

A left-field shout would be Gigi Buffon, another man who doesn’t have the Russian showpiece to worry about; but if Alisson wants to stall, Liverpool should move on.

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In many ways Nathan Redmond has always been up against it since he signed for Southampton for a fee in the region of £10m from Norwich City in the summer of 2016.

During that transfer window, the south coast outfit had seen previous manager Ronald Koeman replaced by Claude Puel, while Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle and Victor Wanyama were among the key first-team players that moved on to pastures new.

Replacing Mane, who scored 25 goals in 75 appearances in total for Saints and 15 in 43 in his final season at St Mary’s, was always going to be a tough task, and it was Sofiane Boufal that was probably brought into the club do this, rather than Redmond.

However, injury problems meant the talented Moroccan missed out on pre-season and wasn’t fit in the early stages of the campaign, which gave the former Canaries winger – who wasn’t even a regular for them as they were relegated in the 2015/16 campaign – a starting berth at the beginning of the season, and naturally the fans wanted him to try and have the same impact as Mane.

While Southampton’s success and three successive top-eight finishes had been built on a 4-2-3-1 formation, Puel decided that he wanted to play with a 4-4-2 diamond system at the start of the campaign, and Redmond was handed a striker’s spot by the Frenchman.

A goal on his full debut in the 1-1 draw against Watford certainly got his career with the south coast outfit off to a positive start, but comparisons to Thierry Henry by Puel the day before the season got underway certainly weren’t helpful for lowering expectations and instead put the pressure on him.

The attacker failed to score in his next six Premier League appearances despite playing the full 90 minutes in each, and throughout the campaign Puel gradually reverted back to the 4-2-3-1 system when he realised that his preferred style wasn’t working.

Redmond seemed to alternate between starts on the left and the right, before settling on a regular spot on the left in the second-half of the campaign as Saints recorded an eighth-place finish.

The 23-year-old scored one goal and didn’t pick up a single assist in his final nine top flight appearances last season however, but it wasn’t all bad as he ended the season with seven top flight goals as well as netting in the 1-0 win against Liverpool in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie.

However, his disappointing form from last season has carried into the current campaign under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, where he has no goals and three assists in 21 matches.

Even though he often seems to make more of an impact on the right-hand side because of his pace, the one-capped England international usually starts on the left, and the fact that he is often forced to cut in on to his stronger right foot hardly helps his personal impact and slows the team’s attacking play down in general.

There has obviously been a huge dip in form and loss of confidence in the player – who needs to work on his decision-making – with the fans’ frustrations with him and Pellegrino beginning to boil over as he has continued to start games in recent weeks and months despite making little impact.

Southampton fans have been quick to get on his back when he has been named in the starting XI and has made a mistake – with some ironically cheering when he has been taken off.

Pellegrino has actually taken him out of the limelight and put him on the bench more often than not in recent times, but he has still been booed by some when he has been introduced.

Considering his poor form and the fact that he isn’t delivering on the pitch it isn’t a surprise, but it isn’t the only reason that Redmond isn’t popular among the St Mary’s faithful.

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One of the main problems with him is that he is quick to moan at his teammates when they don’t do something right, and he points at and blames others for his own mistakes.

It shows a real lack of maturity from the 23-year-old, and while it is clear that he simply wants to win, there are better ways to go about it on the pitch then often being seen visibly whingeing at the people on your team.

All of the factors mentioned in this piece combine tell the story of how Redmond’s Southampton career has never been a walk in the park, but the Saints fans would certainly have a lot more respect and empathy with him if he went about things the right way on the pitch too.

Save the moaning for in the dressing room at half-time or full-time, because fans who are seeing a lack of goals and poor results won’t take kindly to seeing a player constantly having a go at his teammates on the pitch – especially when the individual is making just as many mistakes himself.

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Let’s get straight to the point: Racism in football will never go away.

Campaigns such as Kick It Out, Stand up Speak up and Show Racism the Red Card have done their best to drown out the culprits who ruin the beautiful game. However, the reality is that wearing wrist bands and t-shirts isn’t going to go stop racism, and this due to the shambolic way both UEFA and FIFA are run.

It’s amazing how someone like Sepp Blatter can run a huge organization like FIFA. Someone who has insulted nations and consistently declined the chance to update technology is running the biggest football organization in the world, and yet when it comes to racism, the Swiss turns a blind eye and acts like everything is normal, when he knows it’s far from it.

Racism is in every country, but some countries are worse than others. We have seen over the last few years (especially some countries in Eastern Europe) that racial discrimination can be a huge problem for players and fans when attending matches. For example: Why on earth would you give the World Cup, the biggest football tournament in the world to a country like a Russia that had one team’s supporters publicly say that they don’t want ‘any gay or black players in their team?’ Why? How can Blatter allow such despicable acts go unpunished? In a way, it’s like he is promoting it.

Look at Euro 2012 when it was in Poland and Ukraine – a few weeks before the tournament started, BBC watchdog programme Panorama investigated how some supporters would abuse their own players due to the colour of their skin. There were even secret anti-Semitic gang meetings as fans from certain clubs were angry at their manager’s decision to sign Jewish and Muslim players. How can UEFA and FIFA let countries have such racial hatred backgrounds host some of the most high profile tournaments in the world? Racism is a serious matter and needs to be taken into account.

We’ve seen in the past that if fans have been found guilty of racial remarks, the club they support either get a fine or a stadium ban where no fans are allowed to attend the match. If a player is found guilty, they are either fined or banned. This isn’t strong enough to punish racism, as racism is the cancer of football. The game that we all love is being tarnished by a disease which is effectively killing the sport, and the only way to stop the slow death of football is by making the punishments for the culprits as hard as possible.

The obvious punishment in my book will be moving the 2018 World Cup away from Russia, as that will teach the Russian football fans a hard and painful lesson, to stop racism.

Christopher Samba and Roberto Carlos were continuously abused by their own fans in 2012, as both players were heckled with bananas and verbal abuse. A year and a half on, Manchester City’s Yaya Toure was abused by CSKA Moscow fans as they made monkey chants to the midfielder. UEFA said they will ‘investigate the incident’. Why? What needs to be investigated? Everyone has got ears and heard that no chants like that were made to any other player until Toure got the ball, and then fans wonder why the majority of African players reject playing in countries like Russia, as they know they are going to get abused.

We are living in 2013, soon to be 2014 and players are still scared of moving to foreign countries due to the abuse that they could potentially receive from rival and maybe their own fans. This is terrible to see. Football is a sport where you have the opportunity to play in some of the most beautiful cities and stadiums across the world, but some players turn down this chance to save themselves from the mental painful they could suffer from disgusting fans.

If anything, fans and players should be given criminal records or even prison sentences if found guilty of racial abuse. If you work in an office and you make racist remarks to a fellow colleague in an attacking manner, you could get arrested, lose your job and possibly face prison depending on how serious the offence is. Why isn’t that enforced in football? Yes, footballers are high profile celebrities, but their position in the social chain doesn’t give them the right to do what they want and think that they are above the law. If criminal records were dished out to both players and fans for racial abuse, then players and fans will think twice before opening their mouths.

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Football is an abusive game; shouting, swearing and rude gestures are part of the sport we love as tensions can run increasingly high. However, abusing fans, referees and players by insulting their ethnic race or religion is something which the majority of fans condemn.

The FA has also been guilty in not doing enough to stop the cancer which is racism. John Terry gets a four match ban and a £220,000 fine for racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand. For the same crime, Luis Suarez gets an eight game ban with a £40,000 fine. Where is the consistency in that? The FA should enforce a ten match suspension, and a £150,000 fine if any player is caught racially abusing someone, that way it is the same punishment for everyone who has committed the same crime. The authorities should then get involved and give criminal records to the players. A crackdown like this will benefit everyone involved in the sport.

When I hear that a player/fan has been racially abused, it makes my blood boil as it is a cowardly way to antagonize someone. UEFA and FIFA need to create stronger laws to stop this disease, otherwise, football WILL die.

Roberto Mancini refused to explain what caused him to shove Mario Balotelli down the tunnel, after yesterday’s frustrating 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal, The Daily Express reports.

The only indication is that Balotelli was reportedly angry at only being allowed five minutes of game time at the end of the match, causing him to gesture in the direction of his manager. Mancini then responded by pushing him into the tunnel.

City took the lead in the match through Joleon Lescott, but conceded an equaliser inside the final ten minutes as Laurent Koscielny fired the Gunners level.

The 22-year-old was then sent on by the home side in a desperate attempt to re-claim the lead, something which the player was clearly unhappy about.

Mancini said: “I don’t remember what happened but it is not important.

“We should have held on to our lead but this has been a problem for us lately.”

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Understandably, the City boss was more focused on the team’s collective errors that have underlined the reigning champions’ unconvincing start to the season- winning just two of their six matches in all competitions so far.

“We were too deep and invited trouble. Also, we don’t score when we have the chance to close the game,” he added.

After this Saturday’s Champions League final, Liverpool will turn their attention to the transfer window, and a new goalkeeper should be on the agenda.

Simon Mignolet has lost his position as number one at Anfield, being forced down the pecking order at the start of 2018.

Manager Jurgen Klopp decided to promote Loris Karius, but he has also shown shaky moments in between the sticks.

Despite this, the stopper could end up being crowned European champion this weekend if Liverpool overcome Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Kiev.

If the Merseyside outfit claim their sixth trophy in the competition, then their ability to land transfer targets will surely be boosted.

Gianluigi Buffon will be available this summer after ending a 17-year spell at Juventus, where he won 19 trophies, including nine Serie A titles.

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The 40-year-old is experienced at the top level, so could be a decent stop-gap for a season until Liverpool recruit a long-term option.

We asked you if the Premier League club should make a move, and the majority believe that Buffon is worth it.

According to the Guardian, Manchester United are preparing a £25million bid for Fulham’s teenage sensation, Ryan Sessegnon.

The 17-year-old has earned the plaudits following a series of sensational performances for Fulham, and his impressive displays are beginning to attract the interest of some of Europe’s most reputable clubs.

What’s the story?

The Red Devils are readying a £25m bid for Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, and it is believed that Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, is willing to sell Luke Shaw to fund their move for the starlet.

However, Fulham have suggested that they would require a bid of more than £30m to contemplate selling one of their star players.

Is he worth the money?

At the age of 17, the Englishman’s achievements in his professional career is astounding.  Despite being very young, Sessegnon has amassed 53 first-team appearances for the Whites, and he has scored a terrific total of 11 goals.

One of the defender’s primary assets is his versatility. Despite typically operating as a left-back, Sessegnon can function as a winger too, and he’s highly regarded for his attacking qualities such as his capacity to dribble.

Do they need him?

Manchester United flaunt a proud and treasured history of youth development, and Fulham’s rising star has the potential to rival the talents of any United academy product. However, a move to United could prove to be premature at this stage of his career.

As Wilfried Zaha’s transfer to United testified, a young player requires consistent first-team involvement to continue their progression, and the Ivorian was deprived of that during his time at Old Trafford.

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If United are sincere about signing Sessegnon, they should ensure that he has an active role in their first-team, or they sign him now and loan him back to Fulham until he’s ready to assume a starting position in their team.

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With Champions League football back on the agenda, Arsenal’s squad will once again be tested in a match that could, in any other year, be drawn up as a knockout round tie, with Napoli being welcomed to the Emirates.

There’s an odd perception when it comes to the Champions League group stages. Strive all season to make the top four and then hope for an ‘easy’ path into the latter stages – at least that’s the view from some sections of support. A group consisting of Napoli, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, and even regulars Marseille, is one of the glamour groups of this year’s competition.

What can be said, however, is that there are supporters who may fear that qualification from the group in either first or second place may be a stretch. It’s not that Arsenal lack the quality to match the consistently impressive Dortmund or the dark horses from Naples, it’s the question of depth and whether sacrifices can and should be made when juggling European and domestic league fixtures.

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It was a concern that Arsene Wenger chose to play Per Mertesacker for 120 minutes in the League Cup away to West Brom, only then to go on and start him in the away tie at Swansea. Thomas Vermaelen may be an able backup to the first-choice centre-back pairing at Arsenal, but considering Napoli’s potent attack, most at Arsenal would be far more assured of a good result if the German stays in the defence for this particular tie.

And the thing is it’s only the start of October. Even Wenger expressed concern over the long-term fitness of his squad, though it’s not something that couldn’t be combated via the market. The Premier League, of course, should be the priority. It’s a logical step for a club of Arsenal’s stature to regain a foothold at the highest tier of football.

So there is a question. In the likely event that Arsenal do finish third in their Champions League group – and again that isn’t a knock to the club, but an awareness of the limitations of the squad – would the Europa League and a strong charge in the Premier League be considered an acceptable or even good balance for the second half of the season? Conversely, would a lack of Champions League football in the second half of the season be deemed acceptable?

The Europa League door has fortunately been pushed open a little further for audiences in this country, with last season’s Premier League top three competing in the competition over the past two seasons. It doesn’t represent a failure by any stretch, but rather an opportunity. The League Cup, for arguments sake, is a write-off, such is the squad and the nature of Arsenal’s opponents in the next round.

Arsenal are nowhere near to winning the Champions League, and in a traditional sense have no business being in the competition, along with many others. From one point of view, it makes little sense to ‘throw away’ European football for this season, though incidentally many who are involved in the Europa League group stages do exactly that. The reality, unfortunately is that Arsenal don’t have the means to maintain this strong start in the league while offering maximum input to the Champions League.

The end result to sacrificing, in a way, one major competition is that Arsenal could be very well placed come January to strengthen and further their cause for a strong finish in the Premier League. Couldn’t it be argued that, considering the inconsistency of other title challengers, the league title is more or less up for grabs, in that there is no clear winner?

Arsenal don’t have the squad of a Bayern Munich or even an Atletico Madrid, who can afford to successfully juggle two major competitions. Instead, the domestic form of the club indicates that the Premier League will bring the most success, in one form or another. Qualifying from the Champions League group stages would be a bonus, but a third place finish wouldn’t be as disastrous as may be initially thought.

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Where should Arsenal’s priorities lie this season?

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A calamitous transfer deadline day at Liverpool left the club with only two recognised strikers.

Earlier in the transfer window Rodgers pleaded his need for a minimum of three strikers claiming he would have to “be a nutcase to even consider at this moment to let Andy Carroll go out, unless there are other solutions”. Carroll left Liverpool to be reunited with Kevin Nolan at West Ham and was the third striker to leave Anfield this season after both Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy left the club.

A deadline day loan move for Daniel Sturridge failed to materialise, but missing out on number one target Clint Dempsey was particularly telling. Dempsey had publically declared his wish to play for Liverpool, but a fee of £6m was deemed too much for a 29 year old, who had scored 17 goals in the Premier League last season. Dempsey chose instead to move to Tottenham after rejecting earlier advances from Aston Villa as the management at Anfield headed home hours before the transfer window slammed shut with no striker in sight.

Since then the rumour mill has gone into overdrive with free agents and former players Michael Owen (now at Stoke), Emile Heskey and Florent Sinama-Pongolle all linked with moves back to the club. The possible releases of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba from the Chinese Super League may be more suitable but big money moves to the US, Middle East and even Juventus appear far more likely destinations.

Rodgers and Liverpool are almost certain to shun these options and choose instead to look from within the club.

In John W Henry’s open letter, the American owner revealed the club is focused on developing its own talent and the likes of Morgan and Sterling may see their chances at  Liverpool noticeably increase following Carroll’s departure.

Eighteen year old striker Adam Morgan is favoured by Rodgers and the out-and-out striker has impressed his manager with his work-rate and desire to learn. Morgan has been at Anfield since he was 10 years old and started against Hearts in the Europa League at Anfield last week.

Seventeen year old midfielder Raheem Sterling has started against both Manchester City and Arsenal in the league and the Jamaican-born winger has impressed in the red of Liverpool with his pace and exuberance exciting the Kop. Sterling has been capped at England U16, U17 and U19 level and could feature further forward for Liverpool as his blossoming reputation grows.

Last season Harry Redknapp chose to blood youth in the Europa League for Tottenham with the likes of Rose, Livermore and Kane all featuring. Liverpool will similarly not rank the competition too highly and Morgan, Sterling and Shelvey are all expected to see game time in the competition this season.

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The signing of Samed Yesil may be unknown to many but the German striker has represented his country at Under-16, 17 and 18 level scoring 19 times in 20 appearances, including six goals at the U17 World Cup last year. Yesil has yet to be given a squad number and like Dani Pacheco should spend most of his time in the reserves, although the German is one to watch.

After a tumultuous week, Rodgers will have to quickly develop and progress his youngsters ahead of schedule to negate the failings of the board as Liverpool look to cope without the cover of Andy Carroll.

Jonathan Day is a football betting expert who specialises in European and Premier League football. Jonathan writes for Sportingly Better a football betting blog providing free football tips, predictions and fantasy football picks.