2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season

Tottenham Hotspur

2010–11 season
Chairman	Daniel Levy
Manager	Harry Redknapp
Stadium	White Hart Lane
Premier League	7th
Champions League	Group Stage
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Rafael van der Vaart (5) All: Roman Pavlyuchenko (8) 000Gareth Bale (8)
Highest home attendance	36,310 (vs Inter Milan)
Lowest home attendance	34,709 (vs Young Boys)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

The 2010–11 season is Tottenham Hotspur Football Club'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 2010–11

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 Sport Club 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 Modrić 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, all London clubs and fierce rivals. On transfer 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; in the final few moments, however, 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 Spurs' computer. The transfer was completed the next day, with fee believed to be around £8 million.

During the transfer window, a number of players 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, Queens Park Rangers 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's final permanent outgoing transfer of the summer transfer window saw French defender Dorian Dervite move to Spanish club Villarreal CF 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 Argyle on a season-long loan, followed by another young goalkeeper, Oscar Jansson, joining Northampton Town until September 2010, and completing three loan moves in a week, England Under-19 international John Bostock left to join Hull City for the duration of the 2010–11 season. Six days later, Winger Andros Townsend signed a season-long loan for Ipswich Town after featuring for Tottenham in their pre-season tour of the United States. 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 Rovers 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, 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 Pavlyuchenko goal wrapped up the game and the winning start.

Spurs then began a tour of the United States, beginning in San Jose, facing Major League Soccer (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, the New York Red Bulls, Sporting Clube de Portugal, and Premier League rivals Manchester City. Spurs' first game saw them pitted against the home side 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 Portuguese side Sporting, 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. Sporting 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 CF. Midway 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 fourth goal in pre-season. Fiorentina re-gained the lead though, with a shot from Adem Ljajić beating Heurelho Gomes. Spurs, however, equalised early in the second half with Robbie Keane goal before earning the 3–2 win with a last minute 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 a 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 both Rafael van der Vaart and William Gallas made their Spurs debut, the away side took the lead on 27 minutes through Luka Modric, who would later have to come off injured. Spurs struggled without him and West Brom equalized with Chris Brunt's 50th career goal, a header in the 41st minute. Tottenham ended up taking the point though after goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini made a number of saves to deny West Brom a win as the game ended 1-1. Spurs then kicked off their first match of the Champions League proper at SV Werder Bremen by going two goals to the good, first an own-goal by Bremen defender Petri Pasanen and then a trademark header by Peter Crouch from a van der Vaart cross, only to be denied a famous victory with goals from Hugo Almeida and Marko Marin to earn Werder Bremen a point against a solid looking Spurs side on the day. Tottenham then returned to domestic duty with a home game against Wolves on Saturday 18th September. Wolves took the lead against what looked like a fatigued Spurs with Steven Fletcher beating Carlo Cudicini to make it 1-0 to Wolves. The introduction of fullback Alan Hutton for the injured Younes Kaboul just before half-time made Spurs look a changed side, and the substitute had a huge part in the equalizer after he was brought down in the penalty area to hand van der Vaart a chance to open his account from the spot - which he did, and Spurs went on to win the game 3-1 with goals from another substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko and Alan Hutton himself in the dying seconds to secure a Spurs victory. The first North London derby of the season saw Spurs take on Arsenal at White Hart Lane in the League Cup third round. Goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa, young defender Steven Caulker and midfielder Sandro made their debuts in a cup tie in which Arsenal took the lead with youngster Henri Lansbury finishing off a crisp Arsenal passing move by sliding home a Jack Wilshere cross on 15 minutes. Spurs responded immediately though after half-time with substitute Robbie Keane scoring in the 49th minute after being released by Kyle Naughton. The game finished 1-1 in normal time and the final score was 1-4 to Arsenal, with two Samir Nasri penalty kicks and a straight forward Andrei Arshavin finish securing victory for the away side and guaranteed a fourth round place for Arsenal. Spurs returned to Premier League action with another London derby defeat, this time to West Ham at Upton Park. In an eventful match, this one was decided by a 29th minute Frédéric Piquionne header from a Mark Noble corner. Spurs ended the month in action in the Champions League against FC Twente at White Hart Lane. In another impressive European game by Spurs' standards, Spurs missed a host of chances in the first half, including a van der Vaart penalty, which was saved by the Twente goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov. Spurs though scored four in the second half, this time with van der Vaart opening the scoring from a Crouch knockdown in the 46th minute and then proceeding to get sent off for a second yellow card. Pavlyuchenko made it two though from the spot in the before Nacer Chadli poked home on 56 minutes for Twente, to make it 2-1. Another Pavlyuchenko penalty and an individual effort from Gareth Bale made it 4-1 the final score and gave Spurs their first win in the Champions League proper. Tottenham ended the month eighth in the Premiership and second in the Champions League Group A.

September game stats

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

October

Month summary

October game stats

Month	Games	Won	Drew	Lost	Scored	Conceded	Points	Other
October	5	2	1	2	8	9	7	N/A

Transfers

In

Date Player Previous Club Cost 1 June 2010 Sandro Internacional £6 million 22 August 2010 William Gallas Arsenal Free 31 August 2010 Rafael van der Vaart Real Madrid £8 million 1 January 2011 Bongani Khumalo Supersport £1.5 million Total £15.5 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 12 August 2010 Dean Parrett Plymouth November 2010 20 August 2010 Jon Obika Crystal Palace End of 2010-11 Season 9 September 2010 Danny Rose Bristol City End of 2010-11 Season 13 September 2010 Kyle Walker QPR January 2011 23 September 2010 Jake Livermore Ipswich November 2010 23 September 2010 Adam Smith Bournemouth January 2011 24 September 2010 Paul-Jose M'Poku Leyton Orient January 2011 26 September 2010 Steven Caulker Bristol City End of 2010-11 Season 14 October 2010 Kyle Naughton Leicester January 2011 16 October 2010 Ben Alnwick Leeds 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 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 MF 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 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 December 2010 3 September 2010 Michael Dawson Knee Injury 28 November 2010 7 September 2010 Jermain Defoe Ankle Injury 13 November 2010 15 November 2010 Tom Huddlestone Ankle Injury February 2011 Starting 11 Most used team of 2010–11 season. No. Pos. Name Starts 1 GK Heurelho Gomes 11 2 DF Alan Hutton 9 4 DF Younes Kaboul 9 13 DF William Gallas 8 32 DF Benoît Assou-Ekotto 17 7 MF Aaron Lennon 11 14 MF Luka Modric 12 6 MF Tom Huddlestone 14 3 MF Gareth Bale 17 11 MF Rafael van der Vaart 10 15 FW Peter Crouch 13 Gomes Hutton Kaboul Gallas Assou-Ekotto Lennon Huddlestone Modric Bale van der Vaart 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 1–2 Pavlyuchenko 31', Huddlestone 63' 25,615 23 October 2010 Everton H 1–1 van der Vaart 20' 35,967 30 October 2010 Manchester United A 0–2 75,223 6 November 2010 Bolton A 4–2 Hutton 79', Pavlyuchenko 87' 20,255 9 November 2010 Sunderland H 1–1 van der Vaart 64' 35,843 13 November 2010 Blackburn H 4–2 Bale 16', 75', Pavlyuchenko 42', Crouch 69' 35,700 21 November 2010 Arsenal A 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' (pen), 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 4–3 Bale 52', 90', 90+1' 70,520 2 November 2010 Internazionale H 3–1 van der Vaart 18', Crouch 61', Pavlyuchenko 89' 36,310 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 Tottenham Hotspur 4 2 1 1 12 8 +4 7 Internazionale 4 2 1 1 11 8 +3 7 Twente 4 1 2 1 6 7 −1 5 Werder Bremen 4 0 2 2 3 9 −6 2   INT TOT TWE BRM Internazionale – 4–3 24 Nov 4–0 Tottenham Hotspur 3–1 – 4–1 24 Nov Twente 2–2 7 Dec – 1–1 Werder Bremen 7 Dec 2–2 0–2 – 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 9 4 0 0 13 0 1 1 2 DF Scotland Alan Hutton 9 3 0 0 12 2 1 0 3 DF Wales Gareth Bale 13 6 0 0 19 8 1 0 4 DF France Younes Kaboul 9 2 0 0 11 0 1 0 5 MF England David Bentley 2 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 6 MF England Tom Huddlestone 10 6 0 0 16 1 3 0 7 MF England Aaron Lennon 10 5 0 1 16 0 0 0 8 MF England Jermaine Jenas 6 4 0 0 10 0 2 0 9 FW Russia Roman Pavlyuchenko 12 4 0 1 17 8 3 0 10 FW Ireland Robbie Keane 5 4 0 1 10 1 0 0 11 MF Netherlands Rafael van der Vaart 9 3 0 0 12 7 3 1 12 MF Honduras Wilson Palacios 8 5 0 1 14 0 5 0 13 DF France William Gallas 8 2 0 0 10 0 3 0 14 MF Croatia Luka Modrić 10 4 0 0 14 1 3 0 15 FW England Peter Crouch 13 5 0 0 18 6 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 3 0 1 7 1 1 0 20 DF England Michael Dawson 3 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 21 MF Croatia Niko Kranjčar 3 2 0 1 6 0 1 0 22 DF Croatia Vedran Ćorluka 4 3 0 0 7 0 0 0 23 GK Italy Carlo Cudicini 4 4 0 0 8 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 5 0 0 1 6 0 2 0 32 DF Cameroon Benoît Assou-Ekotto 12 6 0 1 19 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: 14 November 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 14 November 2010 P. Player Position PL CL FA LC Total 1 Gareth Bale Midfielder 4 4 0 0 8 2 Roman Pavlyuchenko Forward 4 4 0 0 8 3 Rafael van der Vaart Midfielder 5 2 0 0 7 4 Peter Crouch Forward 1 5 0 0 6 5 Alan Hutton Defender 2 0 0 0 2 Most appearances As of the 14 November 2010 P. Player Position PL CL FA LC Total 1 Gareth Bale Defender 13 6 0 0 19 2 Benoit Assou-Ekotto Defender 12 6 0 1 19 3 Peter Crouch Forward 13 5 0 0 18 4 Roman Pavlyuchenko Midfielder 12 4 0 1 17 5 Tom Huddlestone Midfielder 10 6 0 0 16 References External links Official Club site BBC – Tottenham club news Football 365 Spurs Homepage