…….and what a very special rat he is.
He was born Adel Taarabt in Berre L’Etang in France on the 24th of may 1989, of Moroccan descent but now playing for his adopted home nation of France, he follows a path taken by other players of African origin that play for the great football nation across the channel. He has represented France in four consecutive age groups from the U-16s up to the U-19’s.
At first sight what you have is a slightly full faced young man with a thing for the Elvis Presley impersonation. Standing at 5 ‘11 and weighing over 10 stone you can’t call Taarabt small or skinny, and yet the ability he possesses mirrors players that fall within such a category.
So what DOES Taarabt posses?
Many have voiced praise and concern over Taarabt, ranging from “Great talent with the capacity to threaten any team in the league” to “Show pony with no end product whatsoever” , with one undeniable point that shines through like the sun does everyday that Taarabt has natural ability/ talent/ potential to quite possibly surpass every first team player currently playing for the Tottenham first team in the future bar Berbatov. At this moment though there is clear evidence to show that Taarabt possesses the following qualities which sets him far apart from many in his generation
- Composure: - Absolutely outrageous composure that would put fans not used to such ability on the edge of their seats and in panic. Most people totally ignore this quality in players but the reality is that it is paramount to be a good team and to being a good player in football today. The ability to basically get the ball and not panic, to just have the ball as a servant in the midst of a storm knowing that you can just walk out of it without so much as a displaced hair follicle. The ACTION being the composure and the KNOWING being the confidence the boy has probably brought about by the skills he possesses
- Dribbling: - This ability is most likely to be the one that most fans are aware of (which tends to bring myths and bias towards the boy) and is one of his strongest assets. Close proximity and intricate dribbling from one that is larger than average with a languid playing style (remind you of anyone?) is rare and are tools that he uses time and time again to humiliate opposition both in the reserves and in the first team when he gets a chance as Sagna, Wes Brown, Lucas Neil, Fabregas and the entire Derby team have found out. This in marriage with his agility make’s him able to twist and turn away from opposition in the same manner that Zokora does but without the safety of being in his own secure half with support from the back line that Didier has. He does this on the wing and in the middle of the park with a myriad of opposition swarming around in the final third.
- Technical ability: - Something that is not scarce on the continent. As such there should be no need to highlight such an ability as its expected sometimes when buying foreign players, but this needs highlighting due to the fact that even though technique is higher abroad than in the UK, where physical traits are valued higher than most other qualities, Taarabt’s technical ability is of sufficient standard at such a young age that you can be sure that technical ability in one so confident will never be an issue therefore his touches are won’t look out of place against most oppositions he comes across, he’d belong the arena. A case that a dedicated and hardworking player like Michael Brown would not be able to put forward convincingly
- Extreme Confidence: - A follow up to Composure. Too much of this can be detrimental to one so young as it puts a tendency to say “No Fear” to most situations whereas in actual fact a bit of cautions quick decisiveness to protect the ball and keep possession by passing short to a near by team mate would be the order of the day. This rare gift can be found in only a handful of players, it’s something that can be worked on but to have a natural tendency to be confident and have self belief is literally priceless in conjunction with someone with some with that much talent at their disposal.
- Upper body strength / Balance :- Quite simply put, you can’t easily barge him off the ball, you can’t easily force him off his stride, he doesn’t tend to run away from his opposition and it’s not easy to stop his forward momentum. Opposition don’t seem as successful to intimidate him off the ball in most areas of the park where he has the ball, it has been done, but it certainly is not frequent enough to say that he is a lightweight, far from it, this part of his game helps him along with the cluster of other abilities to be able to retain the ball. At 5’11 and close to 11 stone , he’s probably bigger than our entire first choice midfield (No not including the Thudd)
- Use of both feet: - Speaks for itself. Can put the ball on his left or right foot and dribble with either. Can take players on down the outside left or the outside right and deliver with both feet, able to twist unto his left side or his right side switching the ball unto either foot. Something that all footballers should posses with the wages they command
- Positive attitude: - All these qualities combine to bring forward a youngster that looks to go forward more often than not, that looks to make things happen most times he gets the ball.
All these things are the deep seeded “X factors” that surround truly gifted and special players. These kinds of players don’t come around very often and are highly sought after assets.
The Myth and Bias
There is a pre-conceived idea that if you have a God given ability to dribble then that’s ALL you can do. A prayer that this view should be given a reality check is in order, it’s true that those that can dribble and humiliate their opposition tend to look to do it maybe more than they should but does that justify the total shunning of all the other aspects that come with this ability or the ability the player may posses outside of dribbling?
But you have to ask yourself…WHAT HAVE people seen? Some say for all his dazzle nothing is produced, games against West Ham, Man United away, Chelsea away last season, Derby at home (Probably one of his worst displays as his team work skills were non existent) Arsenal away and PSV at home, all showing the young man has a MASSIVE amount to offer this club and that claims about his total lack of contribution to matches are greatly exaggerated and unappreciated.
The Standards He Is Held to
Taarabt is definitely a victim of his own ability and mental attitude to games and to opposition. With great talent come great responsibility to perform ALL the time to prove you can be a part of this franchise based on the gift you have, especially as a newcomer, people look for your mistakes first and your contribution second. In essence Jenas can get away more with not being pro active in the middle of the pitch, Lennon can get away more with not having an end product, Zokora can get away with almost anything and someone like steed can get away more with not being able to truly penetrate in a high percentage turnover down the outside left flank. The reason for this is because they are established first teamers, the TEAM being the most important factor. In that aspect though Taarabt may train with the team and though he may be part of the Tottenham squad, he isn’t inherently guaranteed to be part of the First team and the routines involved with the true first eleven. A whole host of reasons are out there as to why, but unless visual evidence is provided it shall remain a question.
What Would Tottenham Have To Give Up To Play Him?
NO ONE can be sure what would be given up were he given more minutes. No one can be sure that he won’t work for the team, no one knows if he will destabilise formation or if he brings and empty threat to one of the positions he may occupy. On the flip side though we can’t be sure all these things won’t happen.
With all these gifts and abilities, does Taarabt have the discipline and wisdom to assimilate into first team football properly at this moment for spurs? There are factors that work against him.
- He can be guilty of over dribbling and ‘hogging’ the ball
- He can be guilty of not looking up as he performs for the crowd
- He can be guilty of holding unto the ball for those extra seconds
- He can be guilty of being erratic and unpredictable, playing to his own Hip Hop tune in the middle of a Spice Girls concert.
- He can be guilty of going for the glory instead of the simple
All deficiencies fall into four main departments which are Decision Making, Discipline, Team Work and Intelligence. These are things which now and again manifest as problems for young Adel, but they don’t occur all time, just enough to see where his obstacles to being a first team player may be coming from.
What Taarabt may need to appreciate (whose to say he doesn’t already) is the value of the simple over the value of the glamorous, to be able to make quick instinctive decisions when and where to release the ball, to be disciplined enough to view his actions as a small part of a larger body and to know when, where and how to use his gifts at the proper time at the proper situations. These are extremely hard to do especially when it may go against your natural tendency but luckily for Tottenham is not nearly as hard as teaching someone to be gifted like Taarabt already is.
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How Do You Incorporate Taarabt Into Tottenham? Where To Play Him?
There is money available to anyone who can figure out the answer to the above questions but a humble educated guess would be to do the same for Adel as one would for Tom Huddlestone, which is to compensate for the potential problems his presence would bring. It gets tricky here because Taarabt has not earned the right to have a team built around him and that is only done for established talented professionals that offer guarantee of what you are building around. It is as simple as that, and because of that simplicity, added to the potential lack of regular first team decision making, there could be a problem finding where to play Adel. Other things to consider is
- The System: - Flat 442? A 433-451? A Diamond? Does that help Tottenham in any way with a player that can’t be given accurate measurement of his team oriented abilities? No it doesn’t tell anything unless the leap in this boy’s education is taken and he is played for an extended period in a formation over and over again. What justification is there for picking a formation to suit a teenager that hasn’t made a HUGE impact already? None.
- Movement of players and Communication: - As said before, Taarabt plays to a system that sometimes appears only he is aware off, that pass for instance with the right mid partner against PSV was actually a very good idea but one that was not adequately communicated with his team mate and therefore the wrong decision. In reality to become the kind of threatening team that Tottenham wish to be then that pass is what is called for with players making the sort of movement that is needed to make that pass effective for the benefit of the team.
(The second point brings other side questions, Does Tottenham have players who themselves are creative enough to spot where THEY should be? Where they should move to? What positions they need to occupy? How to lose their markers with quick thought out movements in small spaces? There is a thought…..)
Taarabt basically needs to play the waiting game both on and off the pitch. When he gets playing time he should focus on tempering his skills and playing more of a team based game. Yes, he should leave his immense talent behind to show that he can do the simple things well enough. The time to demonstrate the ability to skin a cat with a single thought should come at the optimum time when it can cause the most damage, because for all the times the young man twists and turns his way into creating an attacking momentum for Tottenham, all the fans will see is the clock winding down with the ball at his feet and Ramos might see the opposition given the opportunity to set up their defensive stance thereby losing the advantage of a fast break or transition play for example
The world is Taarabt’s oyster and hopefully he can be patient enough to see it through with Tottenham Hotspurs, his style is a mark of what Spurs are all about and what made Tottenham the club to love outside your own.
Tottenham are going places with Ramos and hopefully The Rat will be a part of that march.