Queens Park Rangers striker Adel Taraabt shows a touch of genius as his two goals see off Fulham at Loftus Road Taarabt's talent has been evident since he made his debut as a teenager for Tottenham under Martin Jol, who described him as a "wizard, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way." But the Moroccan's mentality has been questioned by a succession of managers. "He's hard work," admitted Redknapp. He can be a bit of a nut but his heart's in the right place, he wants to do well and he thinks about the game. I took him off at Wigan last week and he wasn't in the best of moods. He didn't behave well so I called him into my office on Monday and had a good heart-to-heart chat with him and he's responded to that. He's temperamental but he's an amazing talent. He needs to harness that talent and just play. I said, "Don't throw your arms up when you lose the ball, don't stand with your hands on your hips, just get after the ball if you lose it otherwise everyone sees that you made a mistake and it gets highlighted." And he did that and he was fantastic. When QPR lost 6-0 at Fulham last year, Taarabt was substituted and left Craven Cottage at half-time, leading to disciplinary action from the club. On Saturday he was lauded by fans and staff alike. "That's what I'm saying," Redknapp added. Talented people like that are difficult to handle. Redknapp compared him with Paolo Di Canio, whose career he resurrected when they were both at West Ham in the 1990s. Paolo was difficult to handle but he was a genius who could win you a match and Adel is the same. He can be a top, top player. He's like Di Canio, doing things nobody else can do. He nutmegs people, he goes past two or three and they're hanging on to him, but they can't get the ball off him. Taarabt hardly played at Tottenham Hotspur and Redknapp sold him for £1 million in 2010. "He used to come back to see his mates and I'd say to him, "You're making me look a fool, Adel. I keep seeing you on TV and you're worth £20 million. I sold you too cheap! He wasn't a player I wanted to release. He's grown up now, he's better than he was. He was a complete fruitcake at Tottenham. Armand Traoré, QPR's Senegal international, said: "I've known Adel since I was 14 or 15, so I know what he's like. He was a catastrophe," laughed Traore. We used to play together in the French national team at junior level. I used to overlap him and he would nutmeg the same guy four or five times. The manager used to say, "If you don't pass the ball, you come off." Adel didn't care. He was getting penalties, scoring goals. He's now improved a lot in terms of work-rate, and matured as a person. I think he's got further to go. We see some goals in training no one has seen. But QPR fear a call-up by Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations is imminent. "I was in that situation last year," added Traoré. If you say no to your country, you and your family will get slaughtered.