Jesse Lingard will return to Manchester United following his omission from Gareth Southgate’s final 26-man squad for this summer’s European Championships, but what should he do next?
Despite the England rejection, Lingard has a lot to be happy about this summer after his 9 goals and 4 assists helped West Ham achieve their highest ever points tally in Premier League history.
Lingard’s career had come to a standstill in Manchester after an extended period out of form and subsequently out of contention at United, but a change of scenery and, perhaps more importantly, a change of teams saw Lingard back to his best, scoring and assisting at free-will. His exploits culminated in the return of European football to West Ham for the first time since 2016 and then getting into England’s preliminary squad, even if not making the final cut.
There’s no doubt there’s a quality player in there, he’s proven it here in FA Cup finals, League Cup finals and starred especially in 17/18 under Mourinho – our highest points tally post-Fergie. And now if there were still any doubters, and there were, he’s gone mid-season to an unfancied team, with an indifferent fanbase, playing under a largely uninspiring manager and he’s smashed it.
He’s indubitably Premier League quality and could definitely feature as a more-than-capable squad player filling in for Bruno Fernandes, if he ever gets a day off…
But is that what’s best for him?
I, personally, would’ve had doubts he’d have been particularly keen on staying at Old Trafford after tasting regular first team football at West Ham but according to various reports in the media he has told Ole Gunnar Solskjær he wants to stay and fight for his place.
An admirable approach sure, but I can’t help but feel an ill-advised one. Bruno Fernandes has been here all of 18 months and is already a back-to-back Player of the Year winner. Whilst Jesse Lingard is Premier League quality, as aforementioned, Bruno Fernandes is Manchester United quality and that’s the difference.
This season is pivotal for not just United but Solskjær too, if he wants to be the man that takes us back to where we belong. Many saw the Europa League final as the perfect chance to end our barren run in recent years and get our first taste of silverware under Ole but defeat in Gdańsk has left nothing but a bitter taste in the mouths of many Reds and patience is thinning.
Is Ole likely to give Lingard enough game time to keep him happy, if he was to stay? Based on the substitutions, or lack thereof, against Villarreal, you’d have to say no. It seems Ole would sooner put himself on the bench than risk Bruno ever being there. Now, if Lingard is content with just being a part of the second string then that’s fine – brilliant even. He’s finished the season as arguably the most influential player in England’s 6th best team. But doing it at West Ham United and Manchester United are very different things, even if he has done it here before. 2017/18 was a long time ago, that was Mourinho’s 2nd season, we’re now going into Solskjær’s 3rd full season in charge. We’re getting into sink or swim territory for many people when it comes to the manager and if he was anything but steadfast in his team selections before, I doubt a Cup final defeat is making him feel any more experimental.
There’s not a day that would go by, an article that I would write, criticising Jesse Lingard for staying at Manchester United. It is my dream, your dream and everybody’s dream to play for United, never mind getting paid thousands of pounds for the trouble. If he was to stay at United for the rest of his career, even if it was a mediocre one for him personally, he would leave a cult hero just for his FA Cup final volley alone.
It would be a career you could only dream of in most respects, but once again, is that what’s best for him?
I’d have to say no. Not necessarily for his standing culturally, as United are as big as it gets and definitely not from a financial point of view but from a pure footballing perspective, it is not in Lingard’s best interests. I can’t envision a United team that Jesse Lingard regularly starts in and surely his form at West Ham has proven he’s worthy of a starting place in the Premier League.
We’ve seen both ends of the spectrum when it comes to players at a crossroads in their United career. Sometimes the manager has a part to play but there are situations like we have with Phil Jones currently, who has less minutes played than Bruno Fernandes has Player of the Year awards since joining the club last year…
Once upon a time Phil Jones was heralded as potentially United’s greatest ever player by Sir Alex Ferguson, no-less. Now he’s barely even a Footballer, with relentless injury setbacks and questionable form whenever he does get on the pitch. His Manchester United career is all but dead.
On the other hand you’ve got somebody like Jonny Evans, whose United career ended in relative ignominy with one of his last United games being the infamous 4-0 defeat to MK Dons in the League Cup. Louis van Gaal soon sold the defender to West Bromwich Albion and had to rebuild his reputation and his career.
But rebuild he did.
After impressing as a regular fixture in West Brom’s line-up for a few years he secured a move to Leicester City, and has made over 100 appearances for them including starting in last month’s FA Cup final victory over Chelsea – the first time they’d won it in their history.
United have won, in chronological order, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Europa League since Evans left United in 2015 but Phil Jones didn’t play a part in any of the finals and was played sparingly in the build-up to all three.
This is the fate that could await Lingard if he chooses to stick and not twist this summer. A fate as bleak as Phil Jones’ is maybe a tad dramatic but being a bit-part player whilst the first team go on to win trophies is probably not too far from reality. Whereas he could do what Jonny Evans did, like many before him, and go to a team like West Ham; a team like Leicester City and write his name in the history books; into that club’s folklore – not a footnote as a member of the supporting cast in other people’s success.
I wouldn’t blame Lingard for staying at United; it’s probably what I’d do to be honest but I can’t help but feel his career here has come to an end and his overall legacy as a player would be better served elsewhere. A place that is perhaps a little bit more relaxed; a place where winning major trophies is to be cherished and savoured rather than being dismissed as the bare minimum; a place where his contributions to such trophies are venerated and championed and not overlooked.
Simply put: Jesse Lingard deserves better than Manchester United and Manchester United deserve better than Jesse Lingard.