There is no such thing as a quiet weekend in the life of Adel Taarabt. His Queens Park Rangers side gleaned an unexpected first home win of the season against Chelsea, and the 22-year-old was at the genesis of both of the Blues’ red cards – his pass released Shaun Wright-Phillips for the run which was illegally halted by José Bosingwa, then Taarabt himself suffered the studs-up lunge by Didier Drogba which saw the Ivorian sent off.
Yet if marvel over the disciplinary implosion of André Villas-Boas’ side stole the UK headlines (without even mentioning the ongoing investigation into John Terry’s alleged comments), Taarabt still managed to stir things up before the day was out. In an interview broadcast by French television show L’Equipe du Dimanche on Sunday night, the Moroccan rapped Leonardo, the Paris Saint-Germain sporting director who turned his nose up at the chance of signing him in the summer, despite considerable board pressure to do so. “He (Leonardo) called Flavio (Briatore, then-QPR chairman),” Taarabt recalled, “but the first thing he said to him was 'yes, but Adel’s character ...' Flavio just said to him: 'It’s up to you to know how to deal with him. We knew how to last year, and he got us up to the Premier League.'”
Leonardo was unconvinced that Taarabt had the requisite maturity for his project; hence the “excuses”, as Taarabt saw them. “The Sheikh (Tamim, PSG’s major shareholder) liked me a lot,” he continued, “and he wanted a true Maghrebian (an Arabic north African) at Paris. The Qataris said to me: 'get six good months under your belt, and we’ll see in January.'”
While Taarabt has been lampooned as a fantasist for talking up interest from Real Madrid when he was still playing in the second tier, he has realistically assessed this situation. PSG’s interest was based largely on the prospect of selling the club commercially to the Arabic world – as well as the sizable north African communities in the French capital. For one so often painted as a Peter Pan figure, Taarabt is surprisingly perceptive.
His talent has rarely been in doubt. Taarabt arrived in London in January 2007, joining Tottenham on loan. He came from the renowned Lens academy, which has since produced Gaël Kakuta, Real Madrid’s Raphaël Varane and Eden Hazard’s younger brother Thorgan, who has just broken into the first-team at the French club. Then-Spurs boss Martin Jol described Taarabt as “unbelievable on the ball” (and later tried to sign him for Ajax and Hamburg) but after Juande Ramos supplanted the Dutchman, he struggled to break through.
Maybe the learning curve was too steep. Taarabt had only ever seen two minutes of Ligue 1 action with Lens, as substitute in a match at Sochaux in September 2006 – when he was just 17. Unfortunately his time at the Stade Felix-Bolleart was far more renowned for a physical confrontation with Gregory Vignal during a reserve match, with the former Liverpool and Birmingham defender infuriated by the young Moroccan’s refusal to pass to him. Like another richly-talented French-raised player of north African stock, Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa, Taarabt has found a reputation is far easier to acquire than it is subsequently to shake off.
After turning his loan spell at QPR into a permanent move in summer 2010, he set about proving there was substance behind the self-belief. He hit 19 goals as Rangers ended a 15-year exile from the Premier League, going up as champion. The wonderfully triumphalist chant of ‘Taarabt’s too good for you’ rang around Loftus Road throughout last season.
He delighted with his pace, goalscoring and ball tricks which placed him in a lineage of adored QPR mavericks including Stan Bowles and Rodney Marsh, but even at the height of his imperiousness, Taarabt showed he had grit too; none more so than when his superb brace salvaged a vital draw against promotion rival Cardiff in the Easter Saturday visit to an intimidating, sold-out Cardiff City Stadium.
Such was the dazzle of Taarabt’s ascension in a season he was crowned Championship Player of the Year that it was easy to forget he was a mere sorcerer’s apprentice at the top level. Thus his debut season as a Premier League regular has proved frustrating.
The anecdotes have stacked up – Taarabt angrily took off his shirt and threw it to the pitch when Rochdale’s Nicky Adams asked to swap after a League Cup tie, and he took public transport home before full-time after being substituted in the hammering at Fulham. The stardust, however, has been in short supply. When he sped clear of the Blackburn defense in the October 15 game at Loftus Road, a winning goal beckoned. The sorry scuff that bobbled wide belied the maestro that carried all before him in the last campaign.
His manager Neil Warnock is now in a tricky situation. He has always made light of Taarabt’s wild streak, saying he instructs his players not to pass to the Moroccan in the QPR half and chuckling at his charge’s apparent dislike for training. Warnock’s tendency towards hyperbole has consistently fed the myth. Such an approach is fine when things are going well, but what about when Taarabt needs guidance?
Morocco coach Eric Gerets took a hard line with Taarabt earlier this year. Dropped in favor of Heerenveen’s Oussama Assaidi for the 4-0 win over Algeria in May, Taarabt stormed out of the camp and said he would never play for his country again. An incensed Gerets growled his response at the post-match press conference. “I hope he saw the match. Then, he will understand why he was going to be on the bench.”
The Belgian’s style of leadership is uncompromising but scrupulously fair, and because of it, he inspires remarkable loyalty in his players. Even, it seems, in Taarabt, who he recalled for October’s African Cup of Nations (CAN) qualifier against Tanzania. After the QPR man scored the vital second in the 3-1 win that booked safe passage to January’s tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, he ran to the bench to embrace the coach.
At club level, Taarabt might find an unlikely guiding light as he seeks to entrench his status. Joey Barton may constantly grate on many, but his sly digs at the Moroccan show more of an interest in the group’s equilibrium – and, indeed, Taarabt’s own development - than some of his own previous behavior may have suggested.
“If I was Adel and I had Adel’s ability I’d not be wanting to come up short having not worked hard enough,” Barton told Absolute Radio Extra recently. “He was told he was a genius; I’ve yet to see it.” Warnock may be unhappy with Barton over his comments and given the successes of last season deserves faith to deal with Taarabt his way – for now. But tough love has worked for Taarabt at international level, so maybe it could with his club too.
Maybe Taarabt does eventually need to reach a bigger stage to fulfill his talent, but he has to prove he has what it takes at his current employers first.
