It’s been said so much recently that its almost become cliche, but Jesse Lingard is not a youngster anymore. He turns 27 in December and these should really be his prime years. He’s been awful recently and if reports are to be believed, then he really needs to buck his ideas up.
BBC journalist Simon Stone tweeted earlier to say it looks like Lingard would not be involved for United tomorrow:
Sounds like Lingard is not going to be involved for Man Utd tomorrow.
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) September 13, 2019
The context is pretty minimal at the moment so I might be jumping to conclusions, but this looks like pretty a pretty damning indictment of Lingard’s form over a long period of time.
There is no suggestion anywhere that he’s injured, so you can only assume he’s being left out due to form or “tactical reasons”. It’s also worth noting that Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong were not included in the U23 game tonight so it looks like they will get a chance to step up and replace Lingard.
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A stat brought out last month showed just how unproductive he had been over a long period of time for United:
Did Jesse Lingard score or assist a PL goal?
May 2018: no
Aug 2018: no
Sep 2018: no
Oct 2018: no
Nov 2018: no
Dec 2018: YES (4G 2A)
Jan 2019: no
Feb 2019: no
Mar 2019: no
Apr 2019: no
May 2019: no
Aug 2019: no pic.twitter.com/YGP1XOAIOg— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) August 19, 2019
This could be a petty big moment in Lingard’s career, especially if the youngsters come in and do well in his absence. If they can prove adequate replacements then you stand to wonder if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might consider moving the England international on.
There doesn’t seem to be any official word from the club on this matter yet, so it will be interesting to see the squad for United’s game against Leicester City tomorrow.