Jesse Lingard will go head to head against Manchester United next week in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
He left United on a free transfer last summer to join Nottingham Forest, but after a long association with the Red Devils, he has plenty to say.
The 2016 FA Cup winning hero spoke about his personal battle with his demons, and his time at the club, in an interview with The Diary of a CEO Steven Bartlett podcast.
He expressed frustration at how his last couple of years at Old Trafford were handled, and also had some criticism of the club facilities.
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Lingard United criticism
Many Manchester United supporters agree that the Glazers have allowed facilities at Old Trafford and Carrington to stagnate, where they are no longer the best in the country.
Lingard agrees, and he singled out the lack of a communal area at the training ground for players to socialise.
He said: “You see City’s facilities and you’re like get up to the date, catch up a little bit. Like you’re way behind at the moment. There’s no games room anymore. You go in, train and go home.”
The midfielder also says he asked United about doing more YouTube content. The club only launched a channel in 2018, after Lingard says he approached them about it.
“People are miles ahead. Even the social side of things. I went to them in 2017 about YouTube and doing content – they are so behind, I just wanted them to get up to date with everything and what’s popping. You have to be relevant and stay relevant.”
Lingard is right that United were surprisingly slow to launch their own channel. But now, the channel has 7.2 million subscribers, overtaking Manchester City’s 5.4m subscribers, which launched in 2009.
It’s just unusual to hear a player take an interest in getting involved in this side of the club, others. You can only wonder what Roy Keane would make of it.
Lingard is very much an individual with his own personality, and he also says in the interview that he plans to become an actor after he finishes playing – once he has taken acting lessons.
The midfielder is still only 30, and hopefully has a lot more to give to the game. He only signed a one-year deal with Nottingham Forest, and will have another decision on his future to make this coming summer.
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