Welcome to Last Word on Football’s ‘Returning Players’ series. In this edition, we take a look at former Tottenham Hotspur defender Younes Kaboul. The centre-back turned out for Spurs in the 2007/08 season before returning to north London in 2010.
Returning Players – Younes Kaboul
First Spell at Tottenham Hotspur
An £8 million fee saw Kaboul join Tottenham in 2007, where he was expected to be a strong and physical defender. But his Spurs career didn’t get off to the best of starts as he was injured against Everton just two games into the new season.
One of his finest moments in his maiden campaign was a goal that he scored against Aston Villa on the club’s 125th anniversary. It was an incredible game that had seen Spurs fall behind 4-1 but a partisan crowd and an athletic Kaboul pull the game around to draw 4-4 in a true Premier League classic at White Hart Lane.
Fans often referred to Kaboul as being a ‘Hollywood’ player with his penchant for long balls to players further up the field. Despite fans taking well to him, Kaboul found himself frozen out by manager Juande Ramos, who felt the player made too many mistakes.
He did pick up a League Cup winners medal when he was a substitute in the second half of extra time in the 2008 final against London rivals, Chelsea. Despite Ramos still not being keen on the player, he made it clear the player did not feature in his plans for the following season. Although Kaboul was committed to the club, in August 2008 he joined Portsmouth.
Teams That Kaboul Played for in Between
Kaboul once more found himself at a club where he was rotated often, but still went on to make 25 appearances in all competitions despite several injuries also affecting his game time. His biggest moments for Portsmouth were a goal against AC Milan in the UEFA Cup and his first goal in the league – a left-footed rocket against West Bromwich Albion.
Kaboul continued to be a player that was either brilliant or terrible, there was no in-between.
Return to Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Redknapp brought Kaboul back to Spurs in the January transfer window of 2010 and the player made his second debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Spurs lost the game, with Kaboul looking uncomfortable playing at right-back as opposed to his usual and favoured central defensive berth.
Yet again, Kaboul was used as a rotation player and struggled to hold down a regular place in the back four. He also struggled with constantly changing positions as he played at right-back, central defender and midfield. There continued to be a lack of consistency in his performances, largely due to the irregularity around game time and changing of position.
However, it was from the right-back position that would turn out to have a huge impact on Tottenham. Against Manchester City, he hit a cross into the box and the keeper couldn’t deal with it effectively. The ball fell to Peter Crouch to tap home and it meant that at the end of the 2009/10 Premier League season, Spurs would finish in fourth place and qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history. Kaboul only made ten appearances in that season but that cross was one moment that will forever be remembered by Spurs fans.
That cross was not Kaboul’s greatest moment in a Spurs shirt, though. That came later in 2010 when Spurs were 2-0 down away at arch-rivals Arsenal. Spurs got back level before Kaboul nodded home a Rafael van der Vaart free-kick to earn all three points in a pulsating North London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
Kaboul would continue to be in and out of the Tottenham side but was given the honour of becoming the club captain when, in 2014, new manager Mauricio Pochettino appointed him to the role. The honour did not last long though and numerous errors saw Pochettino not only drop Kaboul but also strip him of the captaincy.
Kaboul only made 15 appearances for Spurs in the 2014/15 season and the club’s fans and the manager had decided it was time for his Tottenham career to come to an end. In the summer transfer window, Kaboul was sold to Sunderland for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal.
Kaboul was very much a player that was either much loved or much derided. Fabulous passes, solid defending and both outrageous and important goals were interspersed with match-defining errors. His second stint may be considered a failure, but he will still be remembered for that cross against Manchester City and his winner against Arsenal.
Over his two spells at Tottenham, Kaboul notched nine goals from 140 appearances. An average of 20 appearances per season highlights how infrequent his time on the pitch was.
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