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Adel Taarabt would ruthlessly show QPR’s academy stars as little respect as he did EFL defenders with his silky skills in training.
The Moroccan – now playing in the UAE Pro League – can stake a claim for delivering the best individual season in Championship history.
The 36-year-old captained QPR to the second-division title in 2010/2011, before being crowned Player of the Season.
Taarabt scored 19 goals and provided 16 assists to seal the west Londoners’ return to the Premier League after a 15-year exile.
And the attacking midfielder didn’t show any mercy to QPR’s own academy defenders as well, who were alongside him in training.
Adel Taarabt was ‘just a monster’ at QPR
Jordan Buck arrived at Loftus Road from Chelsea’s Cobham set-up in the summer after Taarabt’s player of the year campaign.
“It was all one facility, so we’d all share the same car park,” the now-Account Director at Crayon exclusively told talkSPORT.com.
“You’ve got our wire-edge Corsas next to Djibril Cisse’s Ferrari, and it meant that we would all go out and train at the same time, different pitches of course, but we’d all train in the same sort of area.
“We’d all eat together, it’s all one shared experience, and what that meant was, sometimes the first team coach would whistle over to [QPR youth boss] Steve [Gallen], ‘Steve, I need two left backs and a winger’, and that was your chance to go over and prove yourself.
“I remember the first time that I got called over to go and train with the first team because they needed a left back – stuff like a 3v3, 4v4.
“I got to see Adel Taarabt up close, and he was just a monster. He is the best player that I have ever seen up close and personal. It was just ridiculous.”
“Seeing someone of that calibre up close and personal, just putting the ball through your legs, it’s just like, ‘What’s actually happening right now’,” Buck continued. “He’s going past you like it’s nothing.
“He was absolutely insane. Nutmegs, it was just for fun. nothing you can do about it, don’t even try. It’s going to happen.
“The best thing you can do is stay three feet away from him, then he just shoots and scores, so it’s lose, lose.
“What I would say is if you look at his clips on YouTube, you will see what he used to do in Championship and Premier League games.
“So what I say to people is if that’s what he’s doing in games, just imagine what he was doing in training. It’s just silly.
“We had our own little Ronaldinho on camp just doing Ronaldinho-type stuff. It was nuts!”
Buck never managed to play alongside Taarabt at senior level, but was part of a golden age of academy talent at Chelsea and QPR.
The ex-left-back featured next to Nathaniel Chalobah, Lewis Baker and Burnley’s Josh Laurent during his time at Cobham.
When he arrived at QPR, the academy was still abuzz with news of Raheem Sterling – who had left to join Liverpool the year before.
“Steve Gallen, my coach, would tell us stories about Raheem, because he was his coach as well,” Buck revealed.
However, it was another future England star in the EFL who Liverpool missed out on that left as big of an impression playing against QPR.
Dele Alli ‘used to just glide past people’
Dele, who has been without a club since leaving Cesc Fabregas’ Como in September, enjoyed a meteoric rise after coming through the ranks at MK Dons.
The now-30-year-old made his senior debut in 2012 as a 16-year-old and two years later had completed a £5million switch to Tottenham.
Such a move wasn’t a surprise to anyone inside the Dons – nor Buck, who was blown away by his experience of facing Dele at youth level.
“The best player that I played against, I would say, was at my time at QPR, and that was Dele Alli when he was at MK Dons.
“He was so skinny, but he just used to just glide past people. And he used to do a similar sort of thing to Yann [Gueho], where he’d drop, he was a midfielder anyway, so it was easy for him to drop in really deep.
“He’d drop so deep, get the ball directly from the keeper and just glide through from his box, through the midfield, and then he’s finding a pass in the final third.
“He’d take care of bringing the ball up the entire length of the pitch. And I was in shock.
“I had no idea who he was. It wasn’t like when we played against Everton in the FA Cup for QPR, Ross Barkley’s name was kind of buzzing around, and we were kind of a bit nervous about it on the coach.
“That day [against Dele], I had no idea. There’s just this tall, skinny dude just picking up the ball and just driving through everyone.
“Like the way Mousa Dembélé and Yaya Touré used to drive past players, not like an [Eden] Hazard or a [Mohamed] Salah.
“This was just a tall frame, just knows when to touch the ball, when to shift his body. And he just cut through players.
“He was unreal. He was just shining through. Kind of similarly to Yann [Gueho], I think not as explosive, erratic and showboaty as Yann. But definitely had a similar sort of impact on the pitch.”
Adel Taarabt would ruthlessly show QPR’s academy stars as little respect as he did EFL defenders with his silky skills in training.
The Moroccan – now playing in the UAE Pro League – can stake a claim for delivering the best individual season in Championship history.
The 36-year-old captained QPR to the second-division title in 2010/2011, before being crowned Player of the Season.
Taarabt scored 19 goals and provided 16 assists to seal the west Londoners’ return to the Premier League after a 15-year exile.
And the attacking midfielder didn’t show any mercy to QPR’s own academy defenders as well, who were alongside him in training.
Adel Taarabt was ‘just a monster’ at QPR
Jordan Buck arrived at Loftus Road from Chelsea’s Cobham set-up in the summer after Taarabt’s player of the year campaign.
“It was all one facility, so we’d all share the same car park,” the now-Account Director at Crayon exclusively told talkSPORT.com.
“You’ve got our wire-edge Corsas next to Djibril Cisse’s Ferrari, and it meant that we would all go out and train at the same time, different pitches of course, but we’d all train in the same sort of area.
“We’d all eat together, it’s all one shared experience, and what that meant was, sometimes the first team coach would whistle over to [QPR youth boss] Steve [Gallen], ‘Steve, I need two left backs and a winger’, and that was your chance to go over and prove yourself.
“I remember the first time that I got called over to go and train with the first team because they needed a left back – stuff like a 3v3, 4v4.
“I got to see Adel Taarabt up close, and he was just a monster. He is the best player that I have ever seen up close and personal. It was just ridiculous.”
“Seeing someone of that calibre up close and personal, just putting the ball through your legs, it’s just like, ‘What’s actually happening right now’,” Buck continued. “He’s going past you like it’s nothing.
“He was absolutely insane. Nutmegs, it was just for fun. nothing you can do about it, don’t even try. It’s going to happen.
“The best thing you can do is stay three feet away from him, then he just shoots and scores, so it’s lose, lose.
“What I would say is if you look at his clips on YouTube, you will see what he used to do in Championship and Premier League games.
“So what I say to people is if that’s what he’s doing in games, just imagine what he was doing in training. It’s just silly.
“We had our own little Ronaldinho on camp just doing Ronaldinho-type stuff. It was nuts!”
Buck never managed to play alongside Taarabt at senior level, but was part of a golden age of academy talent at Chelsea and QPR.
The ex-left-back featured next to Nathaniel Chalobah, Lewis Baker and Burnley’s Josh Laurent during his time at Cobham.
When he arrived at QPR, the academy was still abuzz with news of Raheem Sterling – who had left to join Liverpool the year before.
“Steve Gallen, my coach, would tell us stories about Raheem, because he was his coach as well,” Buck revealed.
However, it was another future England star in the EFL who Liverpool missed out on that left as big of an impression playing against QPR.
Dele Alli ‘used to just glide past people’
Dele, who has been without a club since leaving Cesc Fabregas’ Como in September, enjoyed a meteoric rise after coming through the ranks at MK Dons.
The now-30-year-old made his senior debut in 2012 as a 16-year-old and two years later had completed a £5million switch to Tottenham.
Such a move wasn’t a surprise to anyone inside the Dons – nor Buck, who was blown away by his experience of facing Dele at youth level.
“The best player that I played against, I would say, was at my time at QPR, and that was Dele Alli when he was at MK Dons.
“He was so skinny, but he just used to just glide past people. And he used to do a similar sort of thing to Yann [Gueho], where he’d drop, he was a midfielder anyway, so it was easy for him to drop in really deep.
“He’d drop so deep, get the ball directly from the keeper and just glide through from his box, through the midfield, and then he’s finding a pass in the final third.
“He’d take care of bringing the ball up the entire length of the pitch. And I was in shock.
“I had no idea who he was. It wasn’t like when we played against Everton in the FA Cup for QPR, Ross Barkley’s name was kind of buzzing around, and we were kind of a bit nervous about it on the coach.
“That day [against Dele], I had no idea. There’s just this tall, skinny dude just picking up the ball and just driving through everyone.
“Like the way Mousa Dembélé and Yaya Touré used to drive past players, not like an [Eden] Hazard or a [Mohamed] Salah.
“This was just a tall frame, just knows when to touch the ball, when to shift his body. And he just cut through players.
“He was unreal. He was just shining through. Kind of similarly to Yann [Gueho], I think not as explosive, erratic and showboaty as Yann. But definitely had a similar sort of impact on the pitch.”
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📚 Información de la Fuente
| 📰 Publicación: | talksport.com |
| ✍️ Autor: | Joe Brophy |
| 📅 Fecha Original: | 2026-05-12 07:01:00 |
| 🔗 Enlace: | Ver artículo original |
Nota de transparencia: Este artículo ha sido traducido y adaptado del inglés al español para facilitar su comprensión. El contenido se mantiene fiel a la fuente original, disponible en el enlace proporcionado arriba.
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