Manchester United: Why Jesse Lingard should start for England in the World Cup
The English midfielder is having his best campaign to date for Manchester United, and after his performances in friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy, he deserves to start at the World Cup this summer.
At the start of the current season, Jesse Lingard would have been an outside bet to make the England squad for the World Cup to be held in Russia this summer. The Warrington-born player was generally a bench player for his club, and had only a handful of caps for his country.
However, this season, Lingard has been a revelation. Stepping into the Manchester United side when Paul Pogba was injured, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan lost his form, the dynamic attacking midfielder has sparkled.
Lingard played his way into Jose Mourinho’s starting lineup with 13 goals and 4 assists, in 39 appearances for the club. In addition to that, his constant harrying and hassling of defences, and diligence to whatever task set by the manager has won him many admirers at Old Trafford.
England Regular
He has become a regular in the England squad as of late, and no one can begrudge him his spot. Gareth Southgate’s decision to start Lingard against the Netherlands was rewarded with his first international goal, a low shot from the edge of the box.
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He built on this by providing an assist to Jamie Vardy against Italy. When Raheem Sterling was fouled on the edge of the box, Lingard reacted the quickest. With the Italian defence regrouping, Lingard forewent the set-piece opportunity, and instead played Vardy in with a quick pass, from which the Leicester forward made no mistake.
Another huge factor that has led to Lingard’s England momentum is the comparatively poor performance of his national team rivals. Players that were considered ahead of Lingard in the pecking order, such as Dele Alli and Adam Lallana, have had poor campaigns, dotted with loss of form and injuries. This has opened the door for Lingard and, as he has done at United, he has leapt at the opportunity.
Lingard has already shown that he has a penchant for important goals on the big stage, scoring in both FA and League Cup finals. It is time for Southgate to go for form over big names, and give Lingard the chance to shine on the biggest stage of all: the World Cup.