Lingard compared to Iniesta by ex-United coach

Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard has been compared to Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta by ex-United coach Rene Meulensteen.

The 22-year old has been on the fringes of the first-team for the past couple of years, but he has cemented his place in Louis van Gaal’s side after his first appearance this season against Everton at Goodison Park in mid-October.

The Warrington-born midfielder scored his first goal against West Brom this month and even made his way into Roy Hodgson’s England squad during the recent international break.

And Meulensteen, who was part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s backroom staff during United’s glory years, lavished praise on Lingard, who the Dutchman attempted to sign when he was appointed Fulham manager in 2013.

Speaking to United Review, the club’s official matchday programme, Meulensteen said:

He’s bright, he’s light-footed, he’s got great ability and skill. I always said to him: ‘Watch as many [Andres] Iniesta clips as you can,’ because I see Jesse as the English version of Iniesta. He has a long way to go, but that is the sort of player I see in him.

People say he’s small because of the perception of how the Premier League is. Look at players like Iniesta, Xavi, [Lionel] Messi, [David] Silva, [Juan] Mata…they’re tiny, but it doesn’t make a difference if you have a quick brain, quick feet and a big heart, and Jesse has all of those.

You just need an opportunity and that’s what he’s got now.

Meulensteen also described the training methods he used to nurture Lingard’s talents when the Dutchman first arrived at the club as a skills development coach back in 2001:

I’ve always been a big believer that at a young age, you need to give the kids as many tools and skills as they need, and later on, as the game develops and it goes into bigger areas and situations, that’s when it comes down to utilising them at the right time and in the right place on the pitch.

Everything you see in Jesse when he takes a player on – the confidence, the tricks and flicks – it all looks natural and that’s because we instilled it in him at a young age.