Time for QPR to sell Adel Taarabt

It’s not that Adel Taarabt is a bad player, it’s just that his set of attributes don’t align with the way in which QPR have to play to survive in the Premier League.

If you have a player that gets restless anytime a semi-large club is mentioned in connection with him, and at the same time that player isn’t contributing very much on the field, then surely the best scenario for both is a parting of ways?

Taarabt is a luxury player, he doesn’t tackle, he does track back, and he doesn’t often pass the ball. That’s fine, because there are plenty of examples of that kind of player being very successful – and the Moroccan does actually have the ability to be effective in that role. The problem is though, that you can’t have that kind of player if you’re a team like QPR. It creates too much of a strain on the other ten players. A team dripping with quality in different positions can support a Taarabt, a team that needs to rely on its work ethic can not.

Those who cite Taarabt’s contribution in the Championship are missing the point, because at that level the risk to reward ratio is much more in favour of the latter – teams at that level are far less able to exploit the weaknesses created by fielding a passenger in a team. Not so at Premier League level.

Just look at the difference between QPR when they field Taarabt and when they don’t – or look at the two halves they played against Tottenham last weekend. With him they’re flagrant in possession and outnumbered in midfield, and without him they’re hard-working, compact, and stubborn.

It’s ironic, but this is one of those rare situations where QPR’s survival hopes would be boosted by selling their most gifted player. Go back to PSG and bite their hand off.

Free £20 bet on today’s Premier League games? Sign-up to Paddy Power and claim your new member bonus today.

Like your football writing without the pretentiousness of the broadsheets or the hyperbole of the tabloids? Give Two Left Feet a try.