Debatable. Wenger himself said before he thinks Sanchez can be better on the right then the left, but he always had Ozil who was more comfortable on the right and drifting inwards and a few others who could play on the right better. The reason for struggles at Barca was more stylistically (which is weird why Pep wanted him so much now). He's a lot more suited to Mourinho's style rather then Peps. Sanchez likes getting on the ball and doing a lot on his own, twisting and turning and dribbling the ball around. Pep likes pass and move to open space and always unselfish. Sanchez likes to force the game in attack, which IMO is exactly what we need for Mourinho's style. So yeah, not a waste at all. I think it's exactly what we need and will fit in perfectly.
I disagree with Wenger. It was the same at Udinese - far better when moved infield as opposed to playing on the right. So I would be very surprised (pleasantly, of course) to see him come in and perform anywhere near the expectations that folk will have for him from the right hand side. It would solve the team’s big issue but wishing for it to happen won’t make it so and historically he has quite simply failed to produce the quality a player of his calibre should be from that position.
Am pretty sure Lingard would prefer #10, Martial would prefer #9, and I don't think Pogba should be pushed to one side.
Yes, Lingard would ideally like to play no.10, and although he moves and runs everywhere he has a particular affinity for that little pocket of space inside left, and in times where he has not played in that position he has looked better coming off the left side into space (it’s certainly more natural for him shooting).
Martial may prefer no.9 as a starting position, but he most definitely looks to play left-of-centre and drifts into space either deeper or wider - his tendency to favour the left is clear.
Pogba I think just plays more naturally and effectively in the left channel as opposed to the right, not that he can’t play well there in a three or deep and more obviously central and disciplined in a two. Quite a few have spoke about getting the best from Pogba in midfield while accommodating Sanchez on the right, which seems a bit backwards to me because they are not concerned about misusing Alexis.
Do you disagree that we play heavily down the left half of the pitch compared with the right, or that our players generally position themselves more to the left side of the pitch than the right? As a collective, we are grossly unbalanced and although the glaring problem is the tendencies of the right winger, I think it’s very difficult to argue that his position is the only one in the side which is skewed to the left.