2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season

Tottenham Hotspur

2010–11 season
Chairman	Daniel Levy
Manager	Harry Redknapp
Stadium	White Hart Lane
Premier League	5th
Champions League	Group Stage
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Rafael van der Vaart (3) All: Roman Pavlyuchenko (5)
Highest home attendance	35,940 (vs Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Lowest home attendance	34,709 (vs BSC Young Boys)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

The 2010–11 season is Tottenham Hotspur's 19th season in the Premier League. It is their 33rd successive season in the top division of the English football league system.

The campaign will feature Tottenham's first ever involvement in the UEFA Champions League, with the club entering via the play-off round after finishing fourth in the 2009–10 season.

Season 2010–2011

Transfers

Tottenham began their transfer movement for the 2010–11 season in mid-March, when Spurs completed the deal for young Brazilian midfielder, Sandro, joining the club from Internacional, a club whom Tottenham have a key affiliation, with Sandro linking up with squad following the 2010 Copa Libertadores. Early into the transfer window, Tottenham retained the services of a number of key players with club captain Ledley King putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract extending his role at the club, followed swiftly by the former Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini signing a new one-year contract following his recovery from a serious road accident sustained in November 2009,

Luka Modric was the next player to commit his future with the club by signing an extended six-year deal, ensuring his services until 2016. After two months of little transfer activity, Tottenham secured the controversial signing of William Gallas on a free transfer following his release from bitter rivals, Arsenal, as a result of the move, Gallas became the first Premier League player to play for Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. On deadline day, early into the day, Spurs confirmed the loan signing of Croatian international goalkeeper, Stipe Pletikosa from Spartak Moscow, This looked to be Spurs' only move of the day, however, in the final few moments, news broke that Tottenham were in negotiations with Real Madrid midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart, following the closure of the transfer window, the club had to wait for the deal to be ratified by the Premier League, due to complications on the Spurs computer. The transfer was completed the next day, with fee believed to be around £8 million.

During the transfer window, a number of player left Spurs, beginning with young goalkeeper Lee Butcher, leaving to join Leyton Orient on a free transfer after his contract expired at Tottenham,, followed a month later by defender Sam Cox signing a contract with Barnet, again, following the expiration of his Spurs contract. Soon after, a number of fringe and academy players, including veteran goalkeeper Jimmy Walker, left the club on free transfers. In early August, QPR completed the permanent signing of Adel Taarabt for a fee believed to be around £1 million, Taarabt had spent to 2009–10 season on loan at QPR before sealing a permanent deal. Tottenham final permanent outgoing transfer of the summer transfer window saw French defender Dorian Dervite move to Spanish club Villarreal C.F. for an undisclosed fee.

The transfer window also saw younger player acquires loan move to gain regular football, The first loan move saw young goalkeeper David Button, fresh off of signing a new three-year contract, join Plymouth on a season-long loan, followed by another young goalkeeper Oscar Jansson joining Northampton until September 2010, and completing three loan moves in a week, England Under-19 international John Bostock left to join Hull for the duration of the 2010–11 season. Six days later, Winger Andros Townsend signed a season-long loan for Ipswich after featuring for Tottenham in their pre-season tour of America, On the same day, Dean Parrett joined David Button at Plymouth on a one-month deal. The following day, Ryan Mason, who also featured in Spurs' pre-season, joined Doncaster on a one-month deal, trailed a week later, with young striker, Jon Obika clinching a move to Crystal Palace for the season.

Pre-season friendlies

Tottenham began their pre-season by facing Harry Redknapp and Kevin Bond's former team, A.F.C. Bournemouth, beginning the pre-season with a comfortable 4–0 win, A goal mid-way through the first half from Jon Obika established a Spurs lead, before a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal doubled the tally, Danny Rose made it three a minute later before another Roman Pavlyuchenko goal wrapped up the game and the winning start.

Spurs, then, began a tour of the United States of America, beginning in San Jose facing MLS outfit, San Jose Earthquakes with the game ending 0–0. Tottenham made the trip to New York, to compete in the New York Football Challenge, a tournament featuring Spurs, New York Red Bulls, Sporting Lisbon and Premier League rivals Manchester City. Spurs' first game saw them pitted against home side New York Red Bulls with their new signing, Theirry Henry making his debut, Henry opened the scoring against his old rivals, before goals from Robbie Keane and Gareth Bale in the second half gave Spurs the 2–1 win. In Tottenham's final game of the tournament, Spurs faced Portugese side Sporting Lisbon, resulting in a 2–2 draw, which resulted in Sporting lifting the trophy of the New York Challenge. Tottenham took an early lead through Robbie Keane, finishing a one-on-one with the 'keeper. Lisbon hit back with goals from Chileans Matías Fernández and Jaime Valdés. Spurs equalised though, 20 minutes from time after Jon Obika ran on to a Keane through ball to earn the draw for Tottenham.

Spurs's first friendly at White Hart Lane in the pre-season saw them face Villarreal, mid–way through the first half, Villarreal took the lead with former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi finishing a Santi Cazorla through ball, Villarreal doubled their lead ten minutes later with Rossi scoring his second with clinical finishing following a slip from Michael Dawson, Early in the second half, an early goal from Giovani Dos Santos set up a possible comeback but this was extinguised later in the second half, with Rossi securing his hat-trick with a heavily deflected effort on goal, Villarreal wrapped up the game late on with Marco Ruben scoring a tap in to gave the away team a 4–1 win. Tottenham then traveled to Lisbon to play Benfica in the Eusébio Cup. Spurs ended up lifting the trophy after securing a 1-0 win, with Gareth Bale scoring the only goal of the game early into the second half. Tottenham ended the pre-season with a home fixture against Italian side Fiorentina early August. In this game, a defensive error gifted Fiorentina the lead inside 10 minutes through Alberto Gilardino. Ten minutes later Spurs hit back though with an equalising goal from Roman Pavlyuchenko, scoring his 4th goal in pre-season. Fiorentina re-gained the lead though, with a shot from Adem Ljajić beating Gomes. Spurs, however, equalised early in the second half with Robbie Keane goal before earning the 3–2 win with a last minute Robbie Keane goal to end the pre-season with four wins, two draws and one loss.

August

Month summary

Tottenham began the new season against Champions League rivals Manchester City, Tottenham began the game brightly with goalkeeper Joe Hart producing a string of saves to keep the score level, Spurs continued to press but with Hart in inspired form the game finished 0–0 with Spurs beginning the season with a point.

Tottenham's first ever Champions League match followed, with the play-off stage needing to be ngotiatied against Swiss side Young Boys before entering the lucrative group stages. Young Boys took an instant lead through Senad Lulić, tapping home to give Young Boys momentum, The lead was doubled nine minutes later, with Cameroonian striker Henri Bienvenu pouncing on a Michael Dawson mistake to slot home, amazingly, Young Boys made it three after just half an hour with Xavier Hochstrasser capitalising on a Sébastien Bassong mistake to seemingly put the tie beyond Tottenham, however, just before half–time, Sebastian Bassong earned some redemption, rising highest at a corner to head home. Spurs clawed another goal back late in the second half through a Roman Pavlyuchenko strike to give Spurs two away goals and hope for the second leg. Spurs returned to Premier League action, traveling to face Stoke. Tottenham took the lead early into the first half with Gareth Bale bundling the ball in the net on the 18th minute, Stoke equalised soon after with a Ricardo Fuller strike before mid–way through the first half, Bale scored his second, a stunning volley, to earn Spurs the points.

The Champions League returned to focus for Spurs with the second leg of match against Young Boys, with an 3–2 deficit to overcome, Tottenham took the lead early with Peter Crouch scoring an early header, Spurs made it two towards the end of the first half with Jermain Defoe striking home to make it two, Crouch earned his second and Tottenham's third on the 61st minute mark before wrapping up the game with the his hat-trick and the game's fourth, with a late penalty. The win earned Spurs a place in the Group Stage with a 6–3 aggregate win. Tottenham ended the month with a loss, returning to Premier League action, Spurs faced Wigan at White Hart Lane, the game remained scoreless with Tottenham pressing the home advantage before a break away goal from Hugo Rodallega earned Wigan all three points.

August game stats

Month	Games	Won	Drew	Lost	Scored	Conceded	Points	Other
August	5	2	1	2	8	5	4	Progression to the Champions League Group Stages

September

Month summary

After the international break, Spurs went into September without the injured Jermain Defoe, who would later miss three months with an ankle injury sustained in international duty. September started with a visit to West Brom, and in a game where Rafael van der Vaart made his Spurs debut, the away side took the lead through Luka Modric, who would later have to come off injured. Spurs struggled without him and West Brom equalised with a Chris Brunt header in the 41st minute. Goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini made a number of saves to deny West Brom a win and the game ended 1-1.

September game stats

Month	Games	Won	Drew	Lost	Scored	Conceded	Points	Other
September	6	2	2	2	10	10	4	Eliminated from League Cup

Transfers

In

Date Player Previous Club Cost 1 June 2010 Sandro Internacional £6 million 13 August 2010 Anthony Lozano Olimpia Undisclosed 22 August 2010 William Gallas Arsenal Free 31 August 2010 Rafael van der Vaart Real Madrid £8 million Total £14 million +

Out

Date Player New Club Cost 25 May 2010 Lee Butcher Leyton Orient Free 22 June 2010 Sam Cox Barnet Free 30 June 2010 Jimmy Walker Unattached Released 5 August 2010 Adel Taarabt QPR £1 million 18 August 2010 Dorian Dervite Villarreal Undisclosed Total £1 million +

Loaned in

Date Player Club Return Date 30 August 2010 Stipe Pletikosa Spartak Moscow End of 2010-11 Season Loaned out Date Player Club Return Date 3 August 2010 David Button Plymouth End of 2010-11 Season 6 August 2010 John Bostock Hull City End of 2010-11 Season 12 August 2010 Andros Townsend Ipswich Town End of 2010-11 Season 20 August 2010 Jon Obika Crystal Palace End of 2010-11 Season 9 September 2010 Danny Rose Bristol City End of 2010-11 Season 23 September 2010 Jake Livermore Ipswich 13 November 2010 23 September 2010 Adam Smith Bournemouth 16 October 2010 24 September 2010 Paul-Jose M'Poku Leyton Orient 23 October 2010 26 September 2010 Steven Caulker Bristol City End of 2010-11 Season 14 October 2010 Kyle Walker QPR 3 January 2011 14 October 2010 Kyle Naughton Leicester January 2011 16 October 2010 Ben Alnwick Leeds 6 November 2011 Completed loans Date Player Club Return Date 5 August 2010 Oscar Jansson Northampton 5 September 2010 13 August 2010 Ryan Mason Doncaster Rovers 10 September 2010 12 August 2010 Dean Parrett Plymouth 2 October 2010 13 September 2010 Kyle Walker QPR 6 October 2010 Squad list Premier League Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK BRA Heurelho Gomes 2 DF SCO Alan Hutton 3 DF WAL Gareth Bale 4 DF FRA Younes Kaboul 5 MF ENG David Bentley 6 MF ENG Tom Huddlestone 7 MF ENG Aaron Lennon 8 MF ENG Jermaine Jenas 9 FW RUS Roman Pavlyuchenko 10 FW EIR Robbie Keane (team captain) 11 MF NED Rafael van der Vaart 12 MF HON Wilson Palacios 13 DF FRA William Gallas 14 MF CRO Luka Modrić No. Pos. Nation Player 15 FW ENG Peter Crouch 17 FW MEX Giovani dos Santos 18 FW ENG Jermain Defoe 19 DF CMR Sébastien Bassong 20 DF ENG Michael Dawson (vice captain) 21 MF CRO Niko Kranjčar 22 DF CRO Vedran Ćorluka 23 GK ITA Carlo Cudicini 24 MF ENG Jamie O'Hara 26 DF ENG Ledley King (club captain) 30 MF BRA Sandro 32 DF CMR Benoît Assou-Ekotto 37 GK CRO Stipe Pletikosa (On loan from Spartak Moscow) Unregistered Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. No. Pos. Nation Player 27 GK ENG Ben Alnwick No. Pos. Nation Player 39 DF ENG Jonathan Woodgate Long-term injury list Date Injured Player Injury Return Date 25 November 2009 Jonathan Woodgate Groin Injury January 2011 10 July 2010 David Bentley Ankle Injury 21 September 2010 1 June 2010 Jamie O'Hara Back Injury October 2010 3 September 2010 Michael Dawson Knee Injury October 2010 7 September 2010 Jermain Defoe Ankle Injury November 2010 Starting 11 Most used team of 2010–11 season. No. Pos. Name Starts 1 GK Heurelho Gomes 7 22 DF Vedran Ćorluka 7 20 DF Michael Dawson 5 26 DF Ledley King 7 32 DF Benoît Assou-Ekotto 11 7 MF Aaron Lennon 7 6 MF Tom Huddlestone 12 11 MF Rafael van der Vaart 7 3 MF Gareth Bale 12 9 FW Roman Pavlyuchenko 5 15 FW Peter Crouch 9 Gomes Ćorluka Dawson King Assou-Ekotto Lennon van der Vaart Huddlestone Bale Pavlyuchenko Crouch . Match results Pre-season Date Opponents H / A Result (H/A) Scorers Attendance 10 July 2010 Bournemouth A 0–4 Obika 36', Pavlyuchenko 61',74' Rose 62' 4,675 17 July 2010 San Jose Earthquakes A 0–0 10,721 22 July 2010 New York Red Bulls A 1–2 Keane 61', Bale 71' 20,312 25 July 2010 Sporting Lisbon A 2–2 Keane 23', Obika 69' 23,228 29 July 2010 Villarreal H 1–4 Dos Santos 56' 17,917 3 August 2010 Benfica A 0–1 Bale 55' 30,215 7 August 2010 Fiorentina H 3–2 Pavlyuchenko 27', Keane 56', 89' 13,561 Premier League Results by round Matches Date Opponents H / A Result (H/A) Scorers Attendance 14 August 2010 Manchester City H 0–0 35,928 21 August 2010 Stoke City A 1–2 Bale 18', 30' 27,243 28 August 2010 Wigan H 0–1 35,101 11 September 2010 West Brom A 1–1 Modric 27' 23,642 18 September 2010 Wolves H 3–1 van der Vaart 77' (pen), Pavlyuchenko 87', Hutton 90+1' 35,940 25 September 2010 West Ham A 1–0 34,190 2 October 2010 Aston Villa H 2–1 van der Vaart 45+3', 75' 35,871 16 October 2010 Fulham A 2–1 Pavlyuchenko 31', Huddlestone 63' 25,615 23 October 2010 Everton H TBD TBD TBD Champions League Play-off round Round Date Opponents H / A Result (H/A) Scorers Attendance 1st Leg 17 August 2010 Young Boys A 3–2 Bassong 42', Pavlyuchenko 83' 31,275 2nd Leg 25 August 2010 Young Boys H 4–0 Crouch 5', 61', 78' Defoe 32' 34,709 Tottenham Hotspur win 6–3 on aggregate. Group stage Date Opponents H / A Result (H/A) Scorers Attendance 14 September 2010 Werder Bremen A 2–2 Pasanen 12' (o.g.), Crouch 18' 40,000 29 September 2010 Twente H 4–1 van der Vaart 47', Pavlyuchenko 50' (pen), 64' (pen), Bale 85' 32,518 20 October 2010 Internazionale A TBD TBD TBD 2 November 2010 Internazionale H TBD TBD TBD 24 November 2010 Werder Bremen H TBD TBD TBD 7 December 2010 Twente A TBD TBD TBD Group A Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Internazionale 2 1 1 0 6 2 +4 4 Tottenham Hotspur 2 1 1 0 6 3 +3 4 Twente 2 0 1 1 3 6 −3 1 Werder Bremen 2 0 1 1 2 6 −4 1   INT TOT TWE BRM Internazionale – 20 Oct 24 Nov 4–0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 Nov – 4–1 24 Nov Twente 2–2 7 Dec – 20 Oct Werder Bremen 7 Dec 2–2 2 Nov – FA Cup Round Date Opponents H / A Result (H/A) Scorers Attendance Third Round January 2011 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD League Cup Round Date Opponents H / A Result (H/A) Scorers Attendance Third Round 21 September 2010 Arsenal H 1–1 (1–4 a.e.t.) Keane 49' 35,883 Player statistics No. Pos. Nationality Player PL CL FA LC Total 1 GK Brazil Heurelho Gomes 4 3 0 0 7 0 0 0 2 DF Scotland Alan Hutton 4 1 0 0 6 1 0 0 3 DF Wales Gareth Bale 8 4 0 0 12 3 1 0 4 DF France Younes Kaboul 4 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 5 MF England David Bentley 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 6 MF England Tom Huddlestone 8 4 0 0 12 1 3 0 7 MF England Aaron Lennon 8 3 0 1 12 0 0 0 8 MF England Jermaine Jenas 4 2 0 0 6 0 1 0 9 FW Russia Roman Pavlyuchenko 7 3 0 1 11 5 3 0 10 FW Ireland Robbie Keane 4 3 0 1 8 1 0 0 11 MF Netherlands Rafael van der Vaart 5 2 0 0 7 4 2 1 12 MF Honduras Wilson Palacios 4 3 0 1 8 0 3 0 13 DF France William Gallas 3 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 14 MF Croatia Luka Modrić 5 2 0 0 7 1 0 0 15 FW England Peter Crouch 8 3 0 0 11 4 0 0 16 DF England Kyle Naughton 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 17 MF Mexico Giovani dos Santos 3 1 0 1 5 0 0 0 18 FW England Jermain Defoe 2 2 0 0 4 1 0 0 19 DF Cameroon Sébastien Bassong 3 2 0 1 6 1 1 0 20 DF England Michael Dawson 3 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 21 MF Croatia Niko Kranjčar 2 2 0 1 5 0 1 0 22 DF Croatia Vedran Ćorluka 4 3 0 0 7 0 0 0 23 GK Italy Carlo Cudicini 4 2 0 0 6 0 0 0 24 MF England Jamie O'Hara 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 MF England Danny Rose 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 DF England Ledley King 4 3 0 0 7 0 0 0 27 GK England Ben Alnwick 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 DF England Kyle Walker 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 29 MF England Jake Livermore 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 30 MF Brazil Sandro 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 32 DF Cameroon Benoît Assou-Ekotto 6 4 0 1 11 0 1 0 37 GK Croatia Stipe Pletikosa 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 39 DF England Jonathan Woodgate 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 DF England Steven Caulker 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Last Update: 16 October 2010 Data includes all competitions Substitution appearances included as full PL – Premier League CL – Champions League FA – FA Cup LC – League Cup Ast – Assists N/A – Refers to a player who began the season a Tottenham Hotspur player but left the club over the course of the campaign Top scorer As of 16 October 2010 P. Player Position Premier League Champions League FA Cup League Cup Total 1 Roman Pavlyuchenko Forward 2 3 0 0 5 2 Rafael van der Vaart Midfielder 3 1 0 0 4 3 Peter Crouch Forward 0 4 0 0 4 4 Gareth Bale Midfielder 2 2 0 0 4 5 Jermain Defoe Forward 0 1 0 0 1 Most appearances As of the 16 October 2010 P. Player Position Premier League Champions League FA Cup League Cup Total 1 Tom Huddlestone Midfielder 8 4 0 0 12 2 Gareth Bale Defender 8 4 0 0 12 3 Aaron Lennon Midfielder 8 3 0 1 11 4 Benoit Assou-Ekotto Defender 6 4 0 1 11 5 Peter Crouch Forward 8 3 0 0 11 References External links Official Club site BBC – Tottenham club news Football 365 Spurs Homepage