When selecting a team, do you check individual stats or do you just go for total rating.
only the general quality

But looking at his stats -
I suppose you 're talking about the skills, not the stats

Does this give a false overall for his position? And how much does this affect his in game performance?
not much. The talent of a player and overall quality is much more important.

Do you sacrifice overall stats for position specific stats?
I would prefer to buy a scout list player for 2-3 token (if I could ) , ST with q 37 for example and balanced skills , instead of a ST with 33 q but with high (say 39) attacking skills.

* ok, I would avoid to buy a ST with double defending than attacking skills