Yes and the team will not benefit most from having him on the right. The notion that Sanchez can play right wing to a higher level than anyone else is very debatable, given how he has developed and adapted. I would agree that Sanchez has put in greater past performances on the right than Martial or Rashford - that doesn’t mean he will now. You were very unsure of the idea that Sanchez is our best left winger - are you saying that Martial and Rashford have outperformed him in that position, historically? Sanchez’s performances on the left are far superior to his performances on the right, over his career. Even if he does provide a better option on the right than any other candidate in our squad, it would eliminate the possibility of getting the true Alexis Sanchez in a United shirt. What you are proposing is to nullify Sanchez in order to get Martial or Rashford in the line up, a potentially heavy price. If he was going to hit top form out wide for us it would have to be from the left, during which he would provide more than either of the other two there and that would negate any potential (and slight) loss of quality on the right.
Who do you think we have that is better on the right? Yeah I am unsure of the idea about Alexis being our best LW, football isn't played based on historically performances. Martial and Rashford have shown they are very capable LW worthy of investing time into developing their talent, and they can surpass Alexis's level at whatever position. And correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Alexis mainly play upfront for Arsenal? That's without checking stats, so I'm not sure.
And let me put it this way, getting the true Alexis Sanchez should not be of greater priority than developing world class talents like Martial and Rashford who could potentially offer that same level if not higher service for a longer period. It's simple logic, we have much more to gain from them than from Alexis in the long term. It might have been different if Alexis came and lit up the scene, but he has been appalling most often than not, so putting him on the right where we don't have much to lose, is very reasonable.
Really we are talking small margins here, but playing Sanchez from the right is not the ‘obvious’ thing to do and it’s not going to balance the team. We have no-one, at all, who can shine from that side, including Alexis. And yes, we have more than one player who can play from the left with the required calibre. We could perhaps put our attackers to better use if we use a player in the hole (Sanchez, for me, being the prime candidate for this role too) as that would allow us to use three of our forwards in roles they excel in as opposed to just two, but there would still be an underwhelming performer on the right and it would mean we then underutilise our strong depth in midfield.
I know we don't have a specialist RW, and I agree, but since no one ever though of addressing that issue I suggest swapping Sanchez is the best solution. That change of formation should be a possibility, because having 3 of Alexis, Lukaku, Martial and Rashford is much better than only two of them.
At this moment in time, I would settle for Lingard on the right as he brings movement and direct running to the side which we sorely need, and we frankly have better players for the other positions he could potentially play in. And I would play Sanchez at no.10/ second striker to reduce his workload as best it can be and keep him higher and fresher, to stagger the positioning of the three central players - Pereira, Pogba, Fred, Herrera and obviously Matic all like the play in front of them, none of them look to occupy higher spaces - and to allow Rashford and Martial a suitable way into the side.
No, just no. Movement and direct running is just not good enough for that position at the highest level. Lingard isn't good enough with the ball, gets dispossessed too easily, weak in duels and very inconsistent in his finishing. I like Jesse's improvement over the last year and hope he gets lot of playing time, but he should not be a starter at RW, we handicap our attack far too much.
7
What an assist. He was just terrible, no other way of putting it.
