It’s Jesse Lingard’s birthday. He turns 31 today and at this stage of his life, he must realize that it will not be easy to change some of the perceptions that come with being a non-football player. For now, at least.
Talk to Lingard’s former teammates and they’ll talk about a man who has been popular at all his clubs and played at a level, including World Cup semi-finals, that automatically commands respect among his fellow professionals. .
But it’s also a harsh truth that many others will wonder how a player with Lingard’s record of achievement has spent so long without a club and is less troubled by the situation than you might think.
Lingard last played competitive football in a two-minute substitute appearance for Nottingham Forest against his old club Manchester United in April. His last 90-minute performance in the Premier League came with Forest in August 2022 and, before that, you would have to go back 15 months to find a previous performance on loan from United to West Ham.
Since then, it has largely been a period of flux for the player who previously won 32 England caps and contributed to some of United’s happiest moments following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, including scoring the winning goal in the 2016 FA Cup Final. Doing was also included. There have been some serious injuries, some personal issues and only sporadic flashes of his undoubted talent.
And, less than two years after his last England appearance, the ‘Jellings’ life these days involves a completely different routine: to take the ball and work on his fitness, alone, apart from a personal trainer. going outside.
Something similar happened to Michael Owen when he left United at the end of the 2011–12 season and it immediately became clear that a player who was once football royalty, with all the wealth and accoutrements of a superstar, needed to reevaluate his status. Might have to play.
Owen, like Lingard, was in his early thirties. As a former Ballon d’Or winner his highlight reel was even more extensive, but age was also beginning to become his biggest opponent. And, although no one is ever going to end up on Skid Row, it can’t be easy trying to adjust when the boundaries change and the sport, as a whole, stops looking at you so favorably. Could.
In Owen’s case, he was too old, too expensive and too injury prone for elite clubs and there were several times over a long and challenging summer when he considered quitting football to devote himself to his horse racing business. Did.
“I got a few inquiries from overseas – one from Canada-based MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps, and one from Australian side, Newcastle Jets,” Owen wrote in his 2019 autobiography. “When I considered those two possibilities, neither one particularly appealed.
Furthermore, Stoke City were the only Premier League side who showed any real interest and, if you remember their tactics under the management of Tony Pulis, it was always strange to imagine a player of Owen’s size and skill set in their forward line. felt. Owen himself had his doubts. But he signed for them anyway because the alternative would have meant his absence of more than six months from football – which is what is now happening to Lingard.
Owen said, “Oh my God, the whole episode sucked.” “When I first signed for Liverpool, I literally couldn’t write my name quickly enough. The same applies to Real Madrid and Manchester United. I have to admit that when I signed (for Stoke), I did so without any joy. It was just a job and I only signed because I felt it was the right thing to do at the time. What else could I do?”
Lingard seems to have asked himself this question many times since he started training, sweating, at a sports center in Newton Heath – the area of north Manchester where United were founded – Shed and then uploaded the photos. With catchphrases like “keep moving forward” or “positivity and progress” on your social-media channels.
A recent post reads, “Even the hardest days will eventually pass.” “We only do positive things.”
The intention, presumably, is to show potential employers how hard he’s working, how dedicated he is to the game, no matter what anyone says, and how he’s ready for a new challenge. It seems his ambition is to found a team in the US, fueled by “motivation, hunger and love for the game,” another recent post read.
Unfortunately for Lingard, the new MLS season won’t start until February. Nothing has been decided and, over the past six months, the football industry has been so callous and cynical that many are questioning its priorities. Why would they want to know if someone with this caliber is unemployed? Doesn’t he care? Doesn’t this hurt his professional pride? Because surely no one wants to be a non-football player?
The questions are understandable, because whatever the case, there is nothing conservative about a footballer being out of the game for half a year or possibly more.
But there is some context here and, if anything, the nature of modern football makes it likely that we will see this happening more in the future.
Here, we have a man of extraordinary wealth who is in a situation where he doesn’t have to rush to figure out what to do next.
It’s not about a lack of offers, according to the people with knowledge of the situation, who will remain anonymous to protect their position, or that Lingard has any egotistical notion about the level at which he should be playing. It’s more about waiting for the deal that best suits him, rather than feeling forced or pressured to accept whatever comes his way.
After all, that’s exactly what Owen did to Stoke and look what the result was. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Owen did not fit into Police’s ‘big-man-at-the-far-post’ approach, while Peter Crouch and Jonathan Walters began the attack.
In a moment of tragicomedy, a training session ended with a senior professional holding court in the dressing room and asking with a mixture of humor and seriousness: “What’s Michael Owen doing here?”
Owen, who was asking himself the same question, retired at the end of the season due to the league not starting, but had offered to hand in his notice on at least one occasion during the previous months.
With that kind of background, perhaps Lingard is entitled to be selective. It would have been very difficult, perhaps, if interest had gone away. But the phone is still ringing, and as long as it does, the attitude seems to be: Why rush?
Lingard previously spent several weeks training with Saudi Pro League club Al Ettifaq, where Steven Gerrard is manager and players include Jordan Henderson, Moussa Dembele and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Earlier, Lingard had a similar arrangement at West Ham and even featured for David Moyes’ team in a closed-door game against Ipswich. Many wondered whether this might lead to something more significant and give Lingard a chance to repair his relationship with the club’s supporters, who were aggrieved by Forest’s decision to select him ahead of him a year earlier. But nothing more happened and all discussion about Saudi Arabia also ended.
The wolves decided to move ahead for him. Other Premier League clubs, along with one club from Italy, discussed his availability. However, nothing has worked and it is worth remembering that Lingard, despite everything, will not come cheap. Forest were paid a basic weekly salary of £115,000 ($147,000), plus some lucrative bonuses, which caused some issues between the player’s camp and the club’s owners.
Lingard is not innocent and you have to wonder whether, on reflection, he believes it was a mistake not to re-join West Ham last season, especially as it meant he was not part of the Europa Conference League win , which was the club’s first major trophy for 43 years. Year.
Other offers were made by Newcastle United and Fulham, with a four-year deal under discussion. Instead, Lingard signed a one-year contract with Forest, where he started only 14 games, rather than accept the club’s offer of a two-year arrangement.
Maybe that was also a mistake, but he and his advisors thought that if he played well for a year he would be in a strong position, but he did not and he became available on a free transfer.
With this in mind, it becomes easy to understand why Lingard wants to make sure his next choice is the right one.
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Jesse Lingard and Manchester United’s unfortunate departure
His atonement comes in the form of 24/7 reminders, via social media, that he is a slacker and a waster, that he has thrown away his career and many other things to go along with all the hostile headlines and regular unpleasantness. Gave fascinating responses. That someone in his situation would have to encounter that.
Some people can become exceptionally angry when they feel that an ultra-rich footballer is not making the most of his talents. It’s an everyday part of Lingard’s life and perhaps it’s the saddest part, as he has in the past tried to open up about some of his tough times at Old Trafford and his occasional struggles with mental health.
So, yes, perhaps MLS would be the best place for Lingard to find himself again and, it being his birthday, perhaps we can hold off on judging him too harshly until we see what’s next. It happens.
Has he made some questionable choices? Yes. Does he need to find his way back soon? Of course, unless he wants to become one of football’s forgotten men. But if he really wants, he can play for the next five or six years.
The next few weeks will tell us more. It all depends on Lingard’s priorities and that’s the biggest question when, ultimately, 31 is too young to be talking about any player in the past.
(Top photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
