I saw 18 year old Adel Taarabt for the first time as he came on for Spurs in the 2nd half of the game yesterday, and boy, did he look like a young Jay-Jay or Zizou.
The boy had the confidence to try things normal players wouldn't dream about, he had the swagger, bags of natural ability and looked the best baller on the park. He had the crowd buzzing whenever the ball came to him.
My only concern for him is that he came to England from France at such a young age. I fear that poor coaching and the 90 miles per hour stuff may ruin his game. The commentators were already condemning him for failing to play the simple pass on a few occasions. If this sort of thing carries on they will drive the fear of taking risks out of the boy and he will turn out like the other headless chickens that clutter midfields in the EPL.
Doesn't have the composure of Fabregas who seemed to have everything except a stubble at the age of 16 when he made his debut, but Adel has undisputed ability that needs to be nurtured.
He's not afraid to pick the ball up and run with it and has no problem with running in the opposite direction to help defend. He has an abundance of enthusiasm, is strong, great touch and ball skills and his passing isn't too bad either. Not afraid to shoot - but seems to do it too often. Which brings us onto his negatives which really only consist of selfishness and his shots need to actually hit the target when he fires them towards the goal.
Composure will come with experience. This kid could become a great. The worrying thing is, Tottenham and the ambiance we create at the club (joke) tends to overwhelm everyone, so God knows how an 18 year old kid is going to handle his progression, let alone how we plan to do so.
Fingers crossed we don't suffer another Blondel moment.
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