On the back of an impressive loan spell at West Ham United in the second half of last season, Lingard has carried his form into the current campaign with Manchester United.
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Jesse Lingard has enjoyed a positive 2021 calendar year, with started with him shining brightly at West Ham United before carrying that form to Manchester United. He enjoyed an impressive loan spell at West Ham in the second half of last season. The English international has decided to return to Old Trafford at the end of his loan spell and fight for a starting place. Despite largely being limited to a substitute role till now, Lingard’s impact has been evident on the pitch. Goals, assists, and an England recall followed Lingard, as he continues to impress in this calendar year. His promising start to the season might help him push for a starting spot with the Manchester club as the season progresses.
“I think people on the outside think we’re robots, but we’re human beings at the end of the day,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s website. “Things can happen off the field that can obviously affect your physical performance on the field and your mental performance as well, but if you hide and try and brave it with a smile, it’s never good. At the time, I just wasn’t me, even my own family could see it wasn’t me; I was doing things that I’d never done in my whole life and it was just one of those phases I went through and I had to try and pick myself up and get back on my feet. I spoke to the manager at various times about getting me out on loan in January because I wasn’t getting the game-time at United.
“He allowed that and then it was just about me knuckling down and focusing on what I needed to do at West Ham, and that was to do well, score goals, make assists and try and break back into the England side. From the start of the season not being in the England side to the end of the season getting into the 33 [man squad] before the Euros was a massive achievement and it just showed what you can do with hard work, concentration and dedication.
Lingard has explained how West Ham manager David Moyes helped him to regain his top form. “When you’re at your lowest, you think you’re never going to get out of that, but there’s always an option to do that. Like I say you’ve just got to bite the bullet and grit your teeth and knuckle down and that’s what I did. As soon as I went on loan I was ready from the get-go to play. The lads were brilliant there, I knew David Moyes from United and he gave me that freedom to go and play, and that licence to entertain,” he added.
“Obviously I’m contracted at United and to come back after being at West Ham I was confident and I’m still confident now,” he added. “I feel in form at the moment and with the minutes I’ve got I’ve done well. I’m raring to go and ready to play.”
Recently, Lingard had experienced the best and worst on a football pitch. Following a forgettable night at Young Boys, he came off the bench to net a glorious winner against last season’s loan side West Ham.
“That’s what I’m saying about football – look how quickly there’s another game and how you can bounce back. Obviously, it was a mistake [against Young Boys], and it’s probably the worst mistake I’ve made in my whole career playing football, to be honest. But things like that happen, it’s a mistake, we’re human, I didn’t see the guy and obviously he’s scored.
“Of course, you’re going to get people chatting rubbish online, but I don’t read into that, I’m too grown up for that now. I got back on the training pitch the next day and back to work and I concentrated on facing West Ham, and that’s how it is. That’s football; you get a chance to redeem yourself and bounce back and I thought I did that in great style.”
