Schalke: Julian Draxler's Misfortune and Leroy Sane's Breakthrough

Schalke's German left attacking midfielder Julian Draxler, 21, has been rendered inactive while watching team-mate Leroy Sane, 19, make a quantum leap.

If Sane, a German centre-forward, continues surpassing expectations, he will soon be tabloid fodder in rumoured transfer deals, just like Draxler once was. 

Stopped on Track

Twenty-five days into Schalke manager Roberto Di Matteo's reign, he was left feeling vexed with the ill-fated situation he found himself in.

Seemingly all the luck he experienced when leading a plucky Chelsea team to the 2012 UEFA Champions League title vanquished as he arrived at Schalke.

The one person in Gelsenkirchen more unlucky than Di Matteo was Draxler.

"It's a real blow," Di Matteo said, per Schalke's official website. "You can't forget that we're missing nine players at the moment."

Di Matteo was making a reference to Draxler jumping over Paul Verhaegh and landing gawkily.

Having hurdled Verhaegh's challenge, Draxler tore his hamstring in the first real meaningful play of the game—10 seconds into Schalke's 1-0 win over Augsburg, as documented by BT Sport.

Ranked as Kicker's 97th-best footballer in the Bundesliga last season and starting the current campaign with two goals in 552 minutes over eight league games, Draxler was already in a predicament.

Before Draxler's fall from grace, he used to be so valuable that Schalke general manager Horst Heldt engaged in a squabble akin to a jealous partner in an insecure relationship.

Presumably, Heldt feared his cash-cow—Draxler—would consider signing with Borussia Dortmund, a notion deemed preposterous by BVB sporting director Michael Zorc.

"At no time during Mario Gotze's transfer [to Bayern Munich] did we make an effort to sign Julian Draxler," Zorc said, per Bild (h/t Stephan Uersfeld at ESPN FC). "Just like I would never work for Schalke, I respect that Draxler is a Schalke diehard ... I don't know who is having the hallucinations over there."

Draxler is not much of a "Schalke diehard," considering he flirted with the hypothetical scenario of playing for Bayern Munich, reminding everyone of his buyout clause.

"I can make my own decision if a club [such as Bayern Munich] decides to pay €45/£33.12 million for me," Draxler said, per WAZ (h/t Alex Richards at the Daily Mirror). "Look at what happened with Manuel Neuer. He was 100 percent convinced that he would never join Bayern Munich."

During the 2014 January transfer window, Draxler rebuffed an approach by Arsenal.

"In January, there was the offer of Arsenal, but I decided to stay [at Schalke]," Draxler said, per David Ornstein at BBC Sport. "I want to play one more year at Schalke."

From being in the power position to leave, as illustrated by Omar Momani, you assume a now-dormant Draxler will be forced into elongating his stay at Schalke.

Maybe ... Maybe Not

Draxler Bundesliga	2014-15	2013-14	2012-13
Games	8	26	30
Starting % Games Played	87.50	96.15	80
Goals	2	2	10
Goals Per Game	0.25	0.08	0.33
Shots Per Goal	7	24	6
Shooting Accuracy %	57.14	35.42	61.67
Assists	1	6	3
Key Passes Per 90 Mins.	0.30	2.50	1.80
Pass Success %	73.20	84.10	81.90
Dribbles Per 90 Mins.	2.90	4.40	3.20
Dribble Success %	75	72.11	64.71

Draxler has no concrete identity. 

Take a look at the 2012-13 season, and those statistics correlate with a No. 9 or a nine-and-a-half.

Still, the 2013-14 season shows he improved the main attribute required in a No. 10—being a creator.

Why?

He was frustrated with being pigeonholed as a No. 11 out wide and not being granted a free-roaming central role week in, week out.

You are inclined to think the one criticism which irked him was his inability to play in his team-mates, so Draxler proved his doubters wrong.

Yet at the same time, Draxler could not effectively multitask between scoring and creating.

His shooting-accuracy percentage drastically dropped by 26.25, and his goals-per-game output deteriorated by 0.25.

"No. 10 is my favourite position," Draxler said in 2013 when he extended his contract until 2018, per Kicker (h/t Stephan Uersfeld at ESPN FC). "But when Raffael played there last season, I wasn't disappointed."

The next year, same message, different team-mates.

"I want to play as [Schalke's] No. 10," Draxler said, after being a member of Germany's 2014 FIFA World Cup winning squad, per Bild (h/t Jonathan Walsh at Vavel). "But so do Max Meyer and Kevin-Prince Boateng."

Why does Draxler insist on being a No. 10 when he is not an orchestrator of play like Ivan Rakitic or Lincoln?

Is Draxler a pass-first footballer? No.

You surmise Draxler craves the creative freedom, the flexibility to disregard positional discipline and the liberating feeling of doing what he wants, a la Lionel Messi.

Draxler has yet to prove he deserves such an overarching attacking role, where he will monopolise the ball.

When you consider Draxler's two-footedness, his potent long-range shot and him thriving on taking the ball past opposing defenders, you can understand why he has been slotted on the left-flank.

The traits which elevated Draxler to fame and riches are also holding him back from fulfilment. 

You cannot extract the best out of Draxler when he is yearning for a central role, which at times explains his inconsistent form.

Pre-hamstring injury, Draxler spoke about the fickle nature of football.

"It felt like I was the only one who was being blamed," Draxler said, per Bild (h/t Tom Sheen at The Independent). "I have to [perform if I want to] become attractive to big clubs again."

Post-hamstring injury, you feel Draxler has hit rock-bottom.

Draxler has endured four months, 26 days and counting of presumably reliving his last moment in a Bundesliga game—tearing his hamstring after 10 seconds against Augsburg.

You would think that is some psychologically messed-up soul-searching.

Oh Boy!

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Son of Souleyman, a top-flight footballer, and Regina, an Olympic rhythmic gymnastics bronze-medallist, Sane was seemingly destined to be a professional athlete, as Heldt gushed.

"[Sane] inherited great genes," Heldt said, per the official Bundesliga website. "He's a massive talent who's attracted interest from plenty of other clubs, but at no point did he ever think about leaving Schalke."

Here is a question for you to answer: Did Sane score 76 goals in 77 Schalke U17-19 games?

No, that was Donis Avdijaj, now on loan at Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga.

Sane scored a modest 15 goals and provided 16 assists in 69 Schalke U17-19 games.

However, he flashed brilliance, like in a 3-1 win over Chelsea in the UEFA Youth League quarter-finals last March.

After winning a dubious penalty tussling with Dion Conroy—spot-kick converted by Sebastian Hedlund—Sane received the ball on the right flank, drifted centrally and played a reverse-pass to set up Maurice Multhaup.

Six months later in December, Di Matteo utilised Sane as an impact sub in a 2-1 defeat to Cologne.

Evading the attention of Dominic Maroh and Mergim Mavraj, Sane ran in between the two Cologne defenders and headed home Atsuto Uchida's cross. 

There was no doubting Sane's talent, but he needed an opening.

March 10, 2015 is a defining day in Sane's career. 

"[Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting] got a boot to the calf," Di Matteo said, per Schalke's website. "We'll have to wait and see how he recovers."

Choupo-Moting being booted to the calf was the good fortune Sane needed against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 second leg.

Subbed on in the 29th minute, Sane was a constant threat cutting in from the right.

His effective modus operandi was why Fabio Coentrao jockeyed from a distance. 

Sane took advantage, curling the ball past Iker Casillas, scoring one of the four goals in Schalke's 4-3 win.

"It was a dream come true to make my UEFA Champions League debut in the Bernabeu and score a goal," Sane said, per Schalke's website. "We're not too downbeat as we created a lot of chances against the current champions."

Schalke tore Real Madrid apart partly because Di Matteo deployed Sane as a deep-lying forward behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

UEFA.com

Sane's position was tweaked in a 2-2 draw against Hertha Berlin, as he played more as a centre-forward, partnering Huntelaar.

Accelerating away from Hertha Berlin's defenders on the left flank, Sane dragged Thomas Kraft out and dinked the ball over him.

"I have mixed feelings, just like after the Real Madrid game," Sane said, per Schalke's website. "On the one hand, I'm proud to have scored and to have been able to help the team. On the other hand, it's obviously disappointing that we have only come away with a point."

Sane is not to blame. 

He pulled a goal back for Schalke, only for Timon Wellenreuther to crack under pressure, not once, but twice. 

Kicker gave Sane the same rating (2.5; rated from 1-6, the lower the better) as Valentin Stocker, who was voted the Man of the Match.

Yes, it is too small of a sample size, but here is a fact to contemplate: Sane already has a higher Kicker rating (3.75) than Draxler (4.00) this season.

In Sane's two standout games—against Real Madrid and Hertha Berlin—he was deployed centrally, the role Draxler wants.

Draxler is resuming "intensive training" as he strives to salvage his broken season.

When you witness the misfortune of Draxler juxtaposed with Sane breaking out at Schalke, you are again reminded of the enigma in player development.

+allanjiang.

When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com.