Arsenal: PSG Draw Proves Why Julian Draxler Needed

Arsenal were creatively stifled against PSG, but such future happenings can be avoided by securing the services of the wantaway German, Julian Draxler.

Arsenal’s offense looked paltry yet again against PSG, as they created just one chance on target, a trend that has become incredibly troublesome. Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez were both stifled and Alex Iwobi was, well… I’ve said enough about him.

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The most troubling thing about it was that Arsenal’s options off the bench were limited to more speedy choices. There was no creativity source to call upon. When Mesut Ozil is stifled, Arsenal struggles because Alexis takes it all on himself and that leads to more frustration.

I have often advocated for more wide options to give us different angles to the attack, but when those options are enigmatic guys like Iwobi and the Ox, who will either dribble through a crowd or have the ball taken from them at the first sign of trouble, then it’s hard to really rely on late game changes to turn the course of the match.

Someone has to be creating chances, not just running up and down the side, surrendering possession.

That responsibility falls on Ozil. He has those wide attackers to to feed the ball too. But what about when Ozil gets suffocated and can’t find room? That’s when you need another angle of the attack that can spread the defense and give them something else to think about, which will in turn free up Ozil and suddenly, the Gunner’s attack can breathe again.

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Enter Julian Draxler. The wantaway Wolfsburg man is a wide creative mind who can fit that exact need. Whether he is starting or coming on off the bench, he can give this attack another angle with which to penetrate stout defenses. When Ozil is suffocated, feed the ball to the left, where Draxler will be, and rotate the offense, throwing the defense off kilter.

I can’t stress enough how annoying it was against PSG when theball would go wide left and Iwobi fielded the pass and promptly did nothing with it. It became a regular thing and it is such a weakness to have an entire side of play cut off from productivity.

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Again, Draxler prevents that. He’s still young, but I don’t have many hesitations in calling him more reliable than our current options. The only potential problem comes defensively, as he isn’t too keen to help out in that department. But then again, neither is Iwobi.