Julian Draxler from Paris Saint-Germain is not fully satisfied with his role in the DFB team so far. The midfielder’s new position as a veteran will allow him to attack new goals and become more consistent overall.
“The breakthrough didn’t happen, that’s true,” Draxler said in a conversation with the kicker. He has been a member of the German national team for more than seven years, but is not completely satisfied: “Unfortunately, I didn’t have what it takes at the World Cup, it has to be said clearly.
Although the circumstances in Russia in 2018 would have been anything but easy, Draxler doesn’t want to use that as an excuse: “I also know that I didn’t get what I could, and that I didn’t play what I had set out to do.” He concluded: “The most important thing is to stick to it and not stick your head in the sand, but take a new run at it.”
Draxler’s rejuvenation of the squad by Joachim Löw made him one of the most experienced in the internal ranking. He wants to fill this status with life: “I want to leave a footprint on the national team. That’s what drives me.” He is looking forward to the new competition and sees the team “sooner or later” ready for a new era.
With a view to the EM 2020, however, Draxler is a little hesitant: “We will certainly not be the top favourite at the EM. But we definitely have the potential to play for the top places again.” Currently, the team is still in the process of finding each other after Jerome Boateng, Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels leave.
Meanwhile Draxler found his role at Paris Saint-Germain, although it wasn’t easy with Thomas Tuchel’s system: “The start was relatively difficult because Thomas didn’t really know where to go with me at the beginning. In the meantime, he likes to look back on his achievements: “I didn’t have the most minutes of deployment, but I had the most deployments in the squad.”
With players like Edinson Cavani, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe or Angel di Maria Draxler had to develop further: “They all have great egos, everyone wants to be the best scorer in the team, preferably in the league and perhaps throughout Europe. You need someone behind it to build the game and think more defensively.”
Draxler didn’t deny that their elimination from the Champions League against Manchester United left a dent: “Manchester United is a giant club, but it wasn’t the team they had to play against, certainly not under such circumstances. We didn’t manage to go full throttle afterwards – not because we didn’t feel like it, but because we were all so disappointed.”
This was expressed, among other things, in a battle of words between Draxler and Neymar. “I had a disagreement with him, as it always happens. But when it happens to Neymar, it usually gets in the press,” said the 25-year-old.
