Julian Draxler: Scout Report - The next big Bundesliga talent

Style, Strengths & Weaknesses

Julian Draxler has best been employed in the wide attacking zone, but one can’t call him a ‘winger’. He does possess the attributes which a player playing in the wide areas would require, but there is so much more to the dynamic youngster’s game that it would be unfair to restrict him as a ‘winger’. Having said that, Draxler can also play through the middle behind the striker, but one has to wonder if he can develop into a proper striker’s role as he progresses.

Here above you can see Draxler stationed centrally against Dortmund as he moved into a block of space in the #10 zone, he performs a quick turn and plays a deft through ball to his team-mate making a run in; thus showcasing his vision (a crucial factor in his preference to play centrally).

His greatest asset (one of many) is thus his versatility, the young talent has great feet, capable of dribbling past opponents and an impeccable first touch to bring the ball under his control. His quick feet make him adept at taking on opponents, especially in those wide areas as he attempts to make space for a cross. But a regular feature of Draxler’s play is when he bears down on goal with the ball at his feet as he skips past opponents and runs at those backing off. In such a situation he is able to get past the opponent, play a through ball or even have a shot himself. Julian Draxler has the 4th best one-on-one dribble wins across Europe’s top league (72), at the time of writing, a list led by Frank Ribery. It must be noted that Draxler isn’t the fastest player, but he has a great ‘explosion’ (or acceleration) of pace which helps him skip past his opponent and retain possession.

The illustration below, from the Chelsea game, depicts Draxler picking up the ball and running at the Chelsea defence. Despite a number of Chelsea players bearing down on him, he shows immense composure to retain possession and confidently move forward. He’s calm enough not to get pressurised by the players around him, playing a nice little through ball to his team-mate who had peeled away.

Another positive of young Julian Draxler is that he is able to take shots with both his feet, he is capable of taking shots from long range, and more often than not, he prefers to strike with power rather than precision. He can regularly be seen cutting inside and shifting the ball onto his striking foot (shifting onto right when playing on the left and vice versa).

This season he has seen stints playing through the middle, thus taking away his ability to cut inside but retaining much of his play. The most striking feature of deploying Draxler through the middle is the way he makes space for himself. He can be seen dropping deep, with the ball in a wide area, and making space for himself to take a shot on goal. Above is an illustration of Julian skipping away the line of Chelsea players, to the edge of the box, offering Uchida the chance to find him. This is what he likes to do often, get shots off after creating space for himself, away from any markers.

Draxler, at 6’2?, is a fairly tall footballer and would usually be a top candidate to play the lone-strikers role. But for one reason or another, he hasn’t been played in that position. The one criticism that has to be levied on Draxler is his inability to make full use of his height. Firstly, playing him in a wide area removes his opportunity to compete for aerial duels. When he is deployed in a #10 role, behind the striker, he should be looking to get onto the end of crosses by making late runs into the box.

But Draxler prefers to work with the space and create opportunities for himself to take shots off with either foot. This lack of aerial prowess may be a problem that has to be addressed, although it may also be fair to say that Draxler hasn’t been given the chance in a centre forwards role because of the personnel at Schalke’s disposal during his 3 years in the senior team (Raul, Huntelaar, Prince-Boateng etc.).

Given the attributes that he does possess, if the youngster can develop his aerial ability, improve his finishing and progress more as a striker, Julian Draxler could make for a wonderful dynamic centre forward, rather than an attacking midfielder (a role in which he has flourished, but doesn’t get the best out of).

It’s hard to accept the fact that Juliax Draxler is still only 20 years old, the maturity with which he plays and the composure he has when in possession is remarkable. He has developed very early and could peak for a long period of time, making Draxler (probably) the best young talent in world football.