Jermain Defoe has revealed that everyone at Tottenham could see how gifted Adel Taarabt was but the senior players at the club were left frustrated by the attacking midfielder’s lack of discipline.
While there are some players who make the most of their ability and go on to have amazing careers despite having a fairly limited skill set, others often fail to reach anywhere near their potential despite being naturally gifted.
There have been plenty of the latter kind at Tottenham over the years and perhaps one of the best examples is Taarabt. The midfielder was seen as a real coup for Spurs when the North Londoners snapped him up from Lens as a 17-year-old in 2007.
Despite showing his outrageous ability on the ball during several cameos off the bench for Tottenham, the Moroccan never managed to become a first-team regular at Spurs under Martin Jol, Juande Ramos or Harry Redknapp.
That has pretty much been the story of Taarabt’s career as he has never quite managed to deliver consistent displays and live up to his potential.
Now 34, the midfielder is seeing out the twilight of his career at Saudi Pro League club, Al-Nasr, and he will perhaps look back on his career and wonder ‘what if’.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 29: The Tottenham Hotspur badge can be seen on the side of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on March 29, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Defoe opens up on dealing with Adel Taarabt at Spurs
Defoe admitted that several of the senior figures at Spurs tried to get hold of Taarabt in an effort to get him down the right path.
The former Tottenham striker said on the Football Firsts podcast with Troy Deeney: “I remember Adel Taarabt, in training and that he would try all these tricks and lads used to get frustrated that he didn’t train well.
“He didn’t eat stuff that we were meant to be eating but then we played against someone, right, at home and he did that thing – I saw it on Instagram.
“He used to get it and roll it, and flick it back. He used to do mad stuff. Naturally so gifted. He did it in the game and there is a picture of Didier Zokoro going like this [hands on head] behind him.
“He used to just do his stuff in the game and you would think that this kid is unbelievable but you used to have to try and get hold of him because you’d think this kid is a nightmare.”
Spurs Web Opinion
People who think football at the highest level is purely about ability are wrongly mistaken. You can have all the ability in the world but if you are even a little bit short in desire and motivation, you will be ruthlessly exposed at the top level. Tanguy Ndombele is a great example of that.
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