QPR’s next playmaker has arrived in Ilias Chair

A visit to QPR normally guarantees entertainment.

The R’s always seem to have a playmaker in their ranks.

Adel Taarabt is king of the technical midfielders to have graced West London in recent years. Luke Freeman and Eberechi Eze have been the last two players tasked with creating in the final third.

Now, with Eze departing to Crystal Palace this summer, the role seems to have fallen upon Ilias Chair.

The young midfielder grabbed the equaliser in QPR’s 1-1 draw with Watford at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Mark Warburton’s side were full credited for their point against the Hornets, who could have gone top of the Championship with a win.

A quick Youtube search of Ilias Chair presents his strikes while on loan at Stevenage in the 2018/19 season, where he seemingly only scored from 25 yards or more.

Benefiting from that loan spell, the 23-year-old featured sporadically last season. The Moroccan midfielder is now establishing himself as a permanent fixture in a young QPR team, who are realistic of their aims for the season.

His licence to make mistakes will serve him well, Warburton keen to give youth a chance to prosper.

Speaking about Chair’s contribution, his manager challenged the midfielder to earn the number ten shirt he wears at QPR.

“They have to recognise that people want shirts and Ilias knows where I’m coming from with this.

“You want the number ten shirt, it’s a big shirt to wear at QPR. If you want that shirt, no problem, but it comes with responsibilities and you’ve got to deliver those responsibilities.

“I’m delighted he feels that he’s confident in a position to go and deliver that level of performance week in, week out.

“We’re pleased, he’s working very hard, there’s loads more development to come from Ilias but he deserves a lot of credit for how he’s responded and taken that jersey”

Chair stood over all set-pieces for QPR on Saturday and his deliveries caused Watford problems on numerous occasions.

His low cross should also have been converted by Dominic Ball in the first half from point-blank range, but Ben Foster somehow kept the effort out.

The creative torch is not just his to carry. Tom Carroll also impressed for the R’s and at 28, should be approaching the peak years of his career. Alongside Carroll and Chair, Bright Oyasi-Samuel lived up to his name and constantly had the beating of Ken Sema down QPR’s right-hand side.

Warburton echoed these thoughts in his post-match press conference when asked if Chair is now QPR’s chief creative source, perhaps keen to alleviate the burden on the young midfielder.

“Ilias, Bright, Chris Willock, all of them really. You saw Tom Carroll’s quality today.

“You look at all the young players coming through, Charlie Kelman, Ody [Alfa], the young boys are coming in to make an impression so you’ve got to work with them.

“The only way they learn is out there. Ilias has benefitted from the loan to Stevenage, come back and benefitted from being in and out last season and now he’s had a far more extensive run in the team which he’s worked hard to earn and justify.

“He took [his goal]really well and he showed good energy, you saw him run back and tackle. Those type of actions in a game, it’s not just the obvious ones, it’s winning the duels.”

Chair will have plenty of more chances to impress his manager further. A run of eight games ahead of the festive period is now in store for Championship clubs.

QPR’s run starts with Rotherham at home on Tuesday before a derby day fixture arrives away at Brentford next Friday night.

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