January 27, 2021, Manchester United suffer a 2-1 home defeat to bottom of the table Sheffield United and 28-year-old Jesse Lingard fails to make his way into the squad for the fourth game in a row.
Fast forward twelve weeks and Jesse Lingard is now playing some of his best football in his career, scoring eight goals in ten games at loanee club West Ham United as they challenge for a Champions League spot.
During the past few months not only can you tell Lingard is back enjoying his football again; creating new celebrations with his team-mates and moonwalking around the dressing room, but also football fans are loving watching Lingard return to form.
Social media has been filled with praise for the midfielder whenever he’s played for the Irons.
It’s thought that Lingard’s good form is partly down to being reunited with former boss David Moyes. Moyes was in charge of Lingard during his spell at Manchester United and was a fan of Jesse’s style of play but this relationship only lasted ten months after Moyes was sacked by the club.
So why has Lingard struggled so much prior to his loan? With this question, it seems like there could be more to it than what meets the eye – on and off the pitch.
On the pitch at Manchester United, Lingard simply hasn’t had the playing time he would’ve wanted in the last couple of seasons, with most of his appearances coming from the bench. His only starts for United this season came against Brighton, Luton and Watford. All three being in cup competitions.
The arrival of Bruno Fernandes in January 2020 was another factor to Lingard’s lack of game time, with Fernandes hitting the ground running for United, winning ‘Premier League Player of the Month’ in his first month at the club. Lingard got just 43 minutes of Premier League football in the 2019/20 season after Fernandes had signed.
At the end of last season, Lingard understood that his performances weren’t up to the standards he had shown previously and in an open letter to his fans on Instagram, he said: “I lost who I was as a player and person, but I never wanted to give up.”
During November, Lingard had to self-isolate multiple times after coming into contact with other people who had COVID-19 although he never tested positive himself. Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer labelled it as “very unlucky” for Lingard. This led to Lingard missing nine games for United and didn’t return to the squad until December 23 as a substitute in the cup vs Everton.
Off the pitch Lingard was also facing issues at home whilst at the Red Devils. Jesse’s mum, Kirsty, had been struggling with depression for a couple of years. In the end, she ended up going to London to get the support she needed for her battle with depression.
This led to Lingard having to look after his two younger siblings, aged 12 and 15 whilst still trying to focus on performing at elite level for United and having a new-born baby of his own. Parents evenings, school runs and helping with homework was just a few of the tasks Jesse had to juggle with his profession.
In the end, the pressure and responsibilities took its tool on the former Derby and Birmingham City loanee. In an interview with Sky Sports last week, Lingard said he came close to taking timeout of football during lockdown.
He said: “I was going into games happy sitting on the bench, and that’s not me. My mind wasn’t there, I wasn’t focused at all.”
Last summer, Lingard partnered up with mental health charity, Heads Together and spoke to BBC presenter Maya Jama about this tough period of his life he faced.
Lingard said: “I was still performing at the same time. You just get to that point where you’re like, ‘I’ve got to actually say something here’.”
In the end, Lingard spoke out about how he was feeling to his close family and friends, “I spoke to my family and stuff like that. It felt so much better,
“Bottling things up only makes things worse. When you speak up you get the help you need, so bottling it up is not the answer,” said Lingard.
Unfortunately, some people will see these reasons for Lingard’s poor form at United in the last fews seasons as ‘excuses’ because of the luxurious career he is in which many people dream of.
However, he’s just as human as we all are. Whatever job you’ve got, car you drive or salary you earn – it doesn’t matter. Anyone who has been through a similar situation at home as Lingard has experienced then I’m sure they’ve felt the same pain and experienced similar challenges – inside and outside of work.
Now, whilst watching Lingard perform week in, week out, for West Ham you see that spark back in his play. It’s quite apparent that whilst at United, things weren’t right for him on and off the pitch.
In fact, since Lingard’s debut for West Ham, he has scored the most goals in the Premier League as well as having the most shots on target.
So, what’s next for the Mancunian midfielder? With the Euros just around the corner, Lingard will have his hopes set on making England’s 26-man-squad after appearing in the their most recent round of international fixtures against San Marino, Albania and Poland. This was his first call up to Southgate’s squad in over two years.
With the squad numbers for the Euros being increased from 23 to 26 players in the last week, Lingard’s chances of going have been significantly improved.
Lingard was a pivotal part of England’s World Cup campaign in 2018 when they reached the semi-final and he was often praised for his work rate on and off the ball.
In terms of a future for Manchester United, at this current time, it’s up in the air and a big decision has to be made by Solskjaer. Lingard has been at United since the age of seven, so a permanent move to another club in the summer would be a huge new chapter in his career, whether that is for West Ham United or not.
Sky Sports have said West Ham will do ‘whatever it takes’ to secure Lingard permanently in the summer but this won’t be as straightforward as it seems with other clubs such as Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain all reportedly tracking the midfielder’s progress.
Another stumbling block towards the permanent signing of Lingard for the Irons is the price tag. Reports have suggested that the club would have to pay in the region of 30 million pounds if they were to secure the man in-form.
Lingard’s contract expires at the end of the season so West Ham are likely to drive a hard bargain with United.
‘JLingz’ will be hoping to continue this rich vein of form for the Irons and possibly even England in the summer but in terms of what the future holds, it remains unwritten.
One thing I’m sure we can all agree on is that it’s been a joy to see Lingard back on the pitch with a smile on his face and performing to the the potential we know he is capable of.
Long may it continue.
Harvey Lawrence's Sport Blog 