Jesse Lingard was always the little engine that could, a player few anticipated when coming through the ranks at Manchester United would go on to become an established star at Old Trafford, making 149 appearances for the Reds, while scoring a winning goal in a FA Cup final along the way.
Part of United’s 2011 FA Youth Cup winning side, the attacking midfielder was one of its better players for sure but he was not a notably stand-out prospect.
All of the hype and hope for an outstanding career was reserved for his team-mates Paul Pogba and the ludicrous talents – sadly, later squandered - of Ravel Morrison.
For Lingard the expectation was that he would play a few League Cup games here and there, go on a few loans, and then ultimately sign for one of those clubs. Maybe a Leicester City? Or carve out a decent C.V. featuring in Championship predictions.
Certainly, nobody was tipping the Warrington lad to become an integral figure for England across several seasons, in 2018 playing a major role in the Three Lions reaching a semi-final of a major tournament.
It is to Lingard’s enormous credit therefore that he over-achieved on such modest estimations of him, forever proving the doubters wrong, and he did so via boundless energy and endeavour on the pitch and no little ability.
There was also his personality to consider because no matter how irritating some found his ‘Milly Rock’ goal celebration – not to mention an extended determination to make ‘JLingz’ a thing – his larger than life persona got people talking and got him noticed.
It all helped to make a player supposedly destined for mediocrity into a household name.
Only then it began to turn sour at United, at first an imperceptible dip in form that was later followed by prolonged absences from the first team.
While Manchester United were struggling to hit the high notes, their Premier League betting odds diminishing as a consequence, a player that was so recently a household name was fast becoming a forgotten man.
It would be quite wrong to speculate as to why this occurred, but it’s fair to surmise that off-the-pitch problems contributed. Lingard himself has spoken candidly about his mother’s depression, resulting in the player caring for his two younger siblings.
It was a difficult period that saw all enthusiasm for the game drained from him, enthusiasm being such a key component of what made him thrive.
It was a blessing then to see that return at West Ham, across a successful, if brief, loan spell that amounted to 14 goal involvements in 16 starts.
Looking revitalised, reborn in East London, Lingard played a pivotal role in the Hammers upending the football betting by securing a sixth-place finish.
Naturally enough, the London club then went to great lengths to sign Lingard permanently that summer, but to the surprise of many Lingard chose to return to United. Perhaps he felt like he still had a point to prove. He had, after all, constructed a very decent career from doing precisely that.
Only in hindsight, it was a mistake, with the midfielder simply regressing back to square one. In 2021/22, Lingard made just three league starts.
A season-long loan to Nottingham Forest hardly improved matters last year, accruing 17 starts with not a single goal or assist among them, and it could be reasoned that his form for West Ham was an aberration amidst a slow and steady decline into becoming the inconsequential player most tipped him to be when first coming through the ranks as a teen.
Which would be a shame and a genuine one too. Because for all of his application and over-achieving, Jesse Lingard deserves more than to be remembered as the little engine that could, but only for a while.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
