QPR spree has helped Taarabt -

QPR spree has helped Taarabt - Warnock


Neil Warnock has challenged Adel Taarabt to prove he is worthy of a “top club” now he is surrounded by other stars at QPR.

When the Moroccan playmaker left Tottenham last year, he claimed Real Madrid and Barcelona were tracking him.

This summer, Taarabt revealed to the world that both Chelsea and Arsenal had tried to sign him.

Now, after being the undoubted “main man” in Warnock’s Championship-winning team, the 22-year-old is no longer even the most controversial player at Loftus Road following the signing of Joey Barton.

But the Hoops boss insisted the new signings at Rangers can help raise Taarabt’s game to a new level - starting with the west London derby at Fulham on Sunday.

“Having the other players in has given him a lift because he is just concentrating on playing,” said Warnock. “I think you can see how hard he is trying.

“He has been the main man. He was our shining light and has been instrumental to where we are.

“Adel knows that if he is going to get his move to one of the top clubs, he knows we need the type of players we have brought in to give him the stage.

“The ability that Adel has got is not in question. He has got to put the other part into his game and he is trying hard to go that.

"I have said to him that if you look at the top clubs - like Barcelona and Bayern Munich the other night - all the team work their socks off.

"I don’t think he is thinking about his next move, not now. I think he just wants to play well. He wants to keep his position in the team. He is a lovely lad, he trains hard - that’s how he is.”

The temperamental Taarabt vowed not to play for Morocco under coach Eric Gerets in June after he was dropped to the bench for a match against Algeria.

Gerets has now recalled him to a preliminary squad, but warned: “It is not sorted out yet. I want that he knows he did something really stupid. He is very young, I cannot allow myself to kill his international career. When I was young, I also did some daft things. But I love him!

“He is a clown who makes a good atmosphere in the team. You need guys like that and their talent.”

Taarabt's return to the international fold could take him away in January for the African Cup of Nations.

“That will be a relief for me - by January I will be ready to lose him for a month,” Warnock joked. “I will encourage him to go away for a month and let me have a break!”

But he added: “It is good for Adel if he is playing him in his position but when I watched him, he [Gerets] played him as a winger and if he does that, he might as well stop with me.”

The Yorkshireman also claimed winger Shaun Wright-Phillips is not yet ready for an England recall after three games with Rangers following his move from Manchester City.

“Let him enjoy himself for 20 games,” he said.

Warnock has never won at Fulham in eight matches as player or manager.

“But I have never been to Fulham with a team like this,” he said. “I love Craven Cottage - it has great character, like Loftus Road.

"But unfortunately it is only a matter of time before both stadiums are bulldozed because no clubs, playing at the level they are playing at, can sustain that. It is something that will be talked about.”

 

Good article. Pretty much sums up where Taarabt is at atm... EXCEPT

"...He is a lovely lad, he trains hard - that’s how he is.” When did that happen? Last we heard, training wasn't his bag. Dropped in and out when he felt like it etc...

Seems to respond well to Joey's lead though.