Few players at Manchester United divide opinion quite like Jesse Lingard. As much social media cheerleader as part of the first team squad, some fans were infuriated when the club handed him a £100k per-week contract at the end of last season.
But Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and England boss Gareth Southgate have all found room for the 24-year-old in their plans since making his Premier League debut in 2014 and last night’s potent performance against Swansea City in the Carabao Cup demonstrated exactly why.
For starters, the 6-cap midfielder has an unusual affinity with cup competitions, the source of nine of his 14 goals to date for the Red Devils. In fact, Lingard scored in both van Gaal’s last cup appearance as Old Trafford boss and Mourinho’s first – the 2016 FA Cup final and the 2016 Community Shield.
Much more than that, though, Lingard is an ideal squad man. He can operate in a variety of midfield roles, he doesn’t bring negative attention to the club, there’s an industrious element to his game and during matches that some of United’s bigger stars may struggle to find motivation for – such as a Tuesday night at the Liberty Stadium in the Carabao Cup – he reliably delivers.
There can be no doubt about it, Lingard was the star of the show last night, bagging the brace that put United over the winning line with two superb goals. The first owed as much to Marcus Rashford’s deft flick around the corner as Lingard’s clinical finish, but the second was something truly special – a rocket of a header from 15 yards out.
Tellingly of how influential he was on United progressing through to the quarter-finals, he took the most shots at goal of any Red Devils player, completed the joint-most accurate crosses and created the joint-second most chances while having 78 touches – only centre-back Axel Tuanzebe saw more of the ball.
Lingard will never be a world-beater and to many, he’ll never justify a six-figure weekly wage. But as long as the Three Lions midfielder continues to deliver for United in unfashionable games and whenever Mourinho calls upon him, the Portuguese will feel he gets good value from Lingard.
