Former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard has fired back at critics suggesting he failed to deliver during his time at Old Trafford.
Lingard left United in June 2022, following the expiry of his contract. His departure marked the end of his 22-year association with the club, having come through the ranks.
He spent time out on loan at Leicester City and Birmingham City before Louis van Gaal handed him his senior United debut in August 2014.
Lingard eventually managed to secure his status as a key player for the club. It was under Jose Mourinho that the England international enjoyed his most prolific season, scoring 13 goals in 48 games. In total, Lingard made 232 appearances for United, netting 35 times.
The Carrington academy graduate won the FA Cup, Europa League and League Cup with United.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s arrival saw Lingard’s playing time drastically reduce. This, coupled with some off-the-pitch issues led to a decline in performances. In a bid to revive his career, he joined West Ham on loan in 2021. His form improved but he surprisingly opted against sealing a permanent move to the Hammers once the season ended. He returned to United but once again, couldn’t break into Solskajer’s plans.
After parting ways with the Red Devils, Lingard was signed by Nottingham Forest but he was unable to have an impact at the City Ground due to consistently occurring injuries. He was released after just one year and after a lengthy period without a club, made the surprise decision to move to South Korea and play for Seoul FC, where he remains.
Lingard has been doing much better in the K League 1 and has even captained Seoul FC a few times.
The 32-year-old spoke to the Daily Mail and opened up on his time at United. During the latter years of his spell with the 20-time English champions, Lingard often found himself on the wrong end of criticism from supporters, who questioned his commitment and application.
However, he insists he succeeded in England and there is proof to back his claim – trophies and high moments with the national team.
Lingard told the Daily Mail, “I 100 per cent do not feel failure, I feel achievement. You just gotta look at my story from seven years old, a kid from Warrington making it all the way through. The percentages of that are like 0.2 per cent or something. I got chosen.”
“You have to work hard. Go to digs and leave your family at 12 years old and move schools and be in a different environment. And I was the smallest. I was tiny. Sometimes I had to play down a year. So I’ve been through the mill, from a football point of view.”
“I made my debut then got injured and was out for six months out and then came back. Was I going to play again for United? I didn’t know.”
He continued, “A loan to Derby and others. At one point I had Newcastle on the table. I could have gone. I was debating it with myself. It’s a fight. It’s like a rollercoaster, especially being so young. And at the time you’re just thinking: “I’ve got to play football.”
“Fergie always believed in me. That was the only thing really for me. Sir Alex knows football. That meant everything, you know. For him to say when I was young that by 22 or 23 I’d be in the first team was really something and obviously that pretty much happened to the day.”
“At the time I just thought: “Is he magic? What kind of sorcery is this? You know what I mean?”
“I am happy and satisfied because whatever happened was for a reason. Scoring in cup finals, playing for my country, the World Cup, scoring at the World Cup. No one ever takes that away from me.”
On why he didn’t make a permanent move to West Ham when that appeared to be the best course of action for his career, Lingard answered, “I’ll save that one for a rainy day. I don’t really want to go into detail but there was a great deal for me there on the table.”
“Then all the people get involved, and, you know, things start to go sideways, and your mind gets swayed. At that time I really wasn’t a guy who spoke out. I loved being at Forest at the time. Amazing club. Amazing fanbase. Most of the season I was injured, my achilles tendon, which was disappointing.”
Lingard told the newspaper that he still watches United, but mostly highlights because of the nine-hour time difference.
He spoke about club captain Bruno Fernandes, branding him “a leader.”
“The expectation of being at a big club like Man United, nobody really knows it. That pressure of putting on the shirt. It’s about whether you can deal with that or not.”
“Look at Bruno (Fernandes). He can. I love Bruno to death. We spoke a lot when I was there and he always wanted to do well so badly. I’d say he is the main figure now and that’s what you need. A few more leaders.”
Last month, Lingard hit back at a social media troll who accused him, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba of “destroying the culture” at United.
Lingard told the Mail about this, “‘I don’t even really go on there anymore but I did see that and just asked the guy to explain it,’ he says. ‘We actually got some nice responses from other people. I love Paul to bits. He’s one of my best friends. We speak every day.”
“But I was thinking: “What was the culture, anyway? With us being in the first team, you know, it’s obviously knowing the right place, the right time to do things and stuff like that. But ruining culture? We only tried to make it stronger. We responded to success and we smiled and laughed and we were winning games. So that is good culture, yeah?”
“Wayne Rooney told me: ‘Don’t buy your first car until you’ve played 50 games.’ Obviously 50 games came and I drove in a Range Rover, parked up and Rooney is like: ‘Whose is that? Have you played 50 games now?’”
“And that was me accepted. I have never tried to be flash. Of course, if you have nice things sometimes you wanna show them. But the photographers would follow me and take pictures of me in my car every time we drove in. But I’m not posting that or putting it on the Daily Mail am I?”
On what’s next for him, Lingard insisted he hopes to play for another four years or so and would consider offers from the MLS or UAE.
He also revealed that he is interested in acting although he may need classes to help him get better.
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
