I suppose the good thing is that he is versatile so can play in a number of attacking positions. Thing is, we have quite a few players who can play wide. Sanchez (who I know has been playing as a CF but has still played LF some games & cuts inside from wide positions a lot), Iwobi, Ox, Walcott, Perez...then we have young players like Willock, Maitland-Niles, Reine-Adelaide who will be looking to make a breakthrough soon. I reckon Draxler would perhaps get more gametime in a central advanced attacking role.
As it stands, this is our best XI. Cech Bellerin Mustafi Koscheilny Monreal. Coq Cazorla Walcott Ozil Chamberlin Sanchez Our second being: Ospina Debuchy Holding Gabriel Gibbs Elneny Xhaka Perez Ramsey Iwobi Giroud I can see Draxler fitting into that second squad easily. Now of course he wouldn't want to come to Arsenal to play second fiddle but when we're competing in all competitions and potentially 50+ games a season, there would be plenty of games for him.
Well firstly I think... Iwobi, Wellbeck and possibly Perez should be ahead of Chamberlain in a 'best 11' but that's just my opinion. Draxler has World Class ability but he rarely performs. Wenger may be able to get the best out of him but for sure Wolfsburg haven't been able to.
Yeah we're not signing anyone. Any money we do have should be going towards nailing down Özil and Alexis' contracts. On the subject of AOC. I see he has the same time left on his deal but I see neither panic from us nor a clamor of other clubs. Tells you a lot really.
We've had weaker teams and not bought anyone, and to be honest, we have the quality in our squad to win the PL this season. As for AOC, not sure how we'll play it. We seem to give more chances to our English players so unless he has a complete stinker leading up to contract talks, I can see us offering another one. Do i agree with this? No. There are better players who have been moved on like Gnabry and Campbell. Keeping our players should be based on their ability and performance, not on their nationality.
Being linked to both Draxler and Reus today. Reus deal apparently dependent on whether we tie down Ozil and Sanchez, but personally with Cazorla being out for so long, I think we should try and sign him anyway.
Cazorla and Reus are not similar players, so Reus can't do what Cazorla does in that deep midfield position. Also buying Reus would be a huge risk, because this guy is one of the most injury prone players out there.
I'm not sure what the answer is then, maybe Xhaka can grow into that Cazorla role. But he seems more defensively minded, although his passing is top notch. Xhaka always looks like he might lose his head in a game though and get sent off and he doesn't have that fluidity of movement that Cazorla has. I'm not writing Cazorla off, but 3 months is a long time and at 31 time is not on his side either.
Not been too impressed by Xhaka to be honest, the beauty of Cazorla is that he is such a 360 player, because he is brilliant with both feet, and can also make space with his insane close control, Xhaka is the opposite, too static at times and also favours his left too much, Julian Weigl would be the dream buy in terms of replacements for Cazorla, also Verrati, but these guys are players who if they move seem destined for the big three in Europe, maybe someone like Isco could be our new Cazorla, because he does have similar attributes to Cazorla.
I think Xhaka has got a role to play at Arsenal, the Coquelin / Xhaka pairing is okay, although it definitely lacks a creative edge. I see Xhaka more as an DM/CM than a deep lying creative midfielder and he's too similar to Coq and Elneny. As you mention Cazorla just has that ability to control the ball, find space, go past players and find a killer pass, whatever direction he's facing and seemingly no matter how many players are around him. I think we need to consider a longer term replacement, because this season he's not going to be back until March at the earliest and if he stays injury free, then he's probably only got another 2-3 seasons at the top.
No one is coming in this January window. Wenger has historically gone in for players he deems as urgent, this is not urgent. Though it would make a difference as we are missing Cazorla. Arsenal win percentage with Cazorla starting since Aug 2013 - 66%. Without Cazorla 44%
Well, the Draxler boat has sailed... Sky reporting that he's agreed a 4-year deal with PSG in January. I didn't think he'd move until the Summer, but I guess he really wants out of Wolfsburg.
Linked to Isco today http://www.90min.com/posts/4288430-...medium=fan_pages&utm_source=facebook.com.html
Didn't want Draxler anyways. Don't really need another player who doesnt get much in the way of goals/assists.