Jesse Lingard has been on fire for Manchester United this season. Playing an important role in the FA Cup semi-final against Spurs, Lingard has transformed himself this season.
The 25-year-old has registered eight goals and five assists for himself in spite of completing only three games this season. He has produced some stunning goals, one against Watford most notably which shows us what he is capable of.
Both present boss Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex have praised Lingard for his actions on and off the pitch as he quietly becomes a crucial element of his Manchester United squad.
Movement on and off the ball
Lingard has provided Mourinho’s side with some width on the right flank but with his ability to play in the middle and float inside, collect the ball, hold up and knit play together often goes unnoticed.
Lingard has proved himself as a versatile player in the final third, playing centrally, out wide and deeper at times. 80% of chances created by him have come from the centre whereas the remaining 16% and 4% have come from the right flank and left flank respectively.
On the counter
Equipped with pace and ability to skip past players, Lingard has made Manchester United more lethal on the counter-attack.
With 1.4 successful dribbles per 90 minutes, Lingard also comes out on top when it comes to sprints per 90 minutes in the Premier League, averaging 87.5 per game, nearly 10 more than his nearest challenger, Spurs talisman Dele Alli.
Stats have also revealed that the England international also leads the way in distance sprinting per 90 minutes, having covered an average of 1.66km in the 20 league games he has played in so far this season. With a shooting accuracy of 40% and a conversion rate of 22%, Lingard is quite the goal threat.
Defensive work
Lingard is not only good in front of goal but he can defend for his team when they come under pressure too. Lingard has made 29 tackles with a success rate of 69%. He has made 12 blocks in front of goal and eight interceptions along with 92 duels won and has recovered the ball 81 times for his side this season.
Uniting players off the pitch
The 25-year-old has also been fantastic off the pitch this season. He has played an important role in galvanising the team.
All this can be seen through the interactions in the dressing room which are uploaded onto social media. It looks certain that the Manchester United dressing room is a happy place to be.
Lingard often spends time with the fans off the pitch, showing value and respect to the fans as well, creating memories with them. So much so even manager Mourinho has admitted to watching his Instagram stories, claiming the player has no pressure off the pitch, so he takes that same attitude with him on the pitch.
While much can be said Lingard off the pitch, once again it has been a local lad who has produced magic for Manchester United.
From his celebrations to his handshakes with his fellow teammates or accepting newly signed players in the dressing room and creating a positive atmosphere for everybody to perform on the pitch, Lingard has been phenomenal this season.
Nodody knew he could produce such magic apart from Sir Alex himself who very famously said in 2012, “He is 19, came through our youth system and is built like Jean Tigana was for France. But he never got into the limelight there until he was about 24, and I think that will be the same with Lingard.” Something that is incredibly accurate right now.
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