It's not the first time he's played on the left. I remember he played there a few times and even scored a goal or two starting there. No reason it can't work, and I think he's been stuck on the right because we had zero alternatives that are not part time narcotraffickers.
Yeah, I remember Pioli starting off the 20/21 season with Saele as LW and Samu as RW in the EL qualifiers when Rebic and Leao were unavailable.
Saele was HORRIBLE in his first appearance as LW against Shamrock Rovers(I think), leading to many of us saying that we don't want to ever see him in that role again. The touch was off, he got (over)ambitious but failed with almost everything he attempted. Pioli gave it a few more tries though, with vastly different and better results than the first attempt. They were just as good as his best RW performances, except here he had the room to cut in and shoot with his preferred foot.
But I also liked the Verona away game in the 2nd half of the season when Samu and Saele switched flanks throughout the game, making them less predictable than usual, and us very solid defensively and very mobile compared to other games in that period.
I think the workhorses suffer less from a switch of roles/flanks than the wide forwards, particularly the ones who have a clear preferred foot, like El Sha and Suso.
Rebic and Leao aren't as one footed or as predictable, but Rebic has clearly not been as much of a goal threat on the right flank for Croatia. Leao needs to become more clinical on his favorite flank first..
