[Di Maria's angel]

Ultimately, he just isnt good enough.

For me, hes not intelligent enough to play that role and van Gaal isnt smart enough to figure that out.

 

[Black Adder]

Honest half, works hard and gives 100%. Can't complain cause that's where we are at mo, and in fairness has contributed this season with goals and assists....

Not today.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

no worse then any other attacking player on the pitch.

 

[Gandalf Greyhame]

He is simply not good enough to make it at a top club, despite his professionalism, desire and pace. It's an indication of how far our standards have fallen, how thin and weak our squad is and how our manager thinks that he makes it to the lineup so regularly. Squad player, nothing more.

Today he should've been the one on the right and Mata in the middle, though. Given his pace and defensive contributions (anyone's better than Mata at that, ask Mourinho), he should have kept Rose pegged back, and let Mata do his magic and get Martial and Rashford into the game. We are leaving 1/3rds of the pitch empty on the right fro Rose to attack, and only Mata to cut him down. Is that what Mata is supposed to do? Martial gets outnumbered because Spurs can afford to ignore our non-existent attacks down the right. Rashford's barely seen the ball.

But the stubborn underperformer we have for a manager will refuse to see this.

 

[J-Stander]

The lad is shite. It's insane that he's been one of the first names on the team sheet this season.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Feck me... I like him but that's abysmal.

 

[An Irish Red]

He's as average as they come. Which is exactly why he's a regular for us at the minute, depressingly.

If we have any aspirations of getting back to where we were he should be one of the first names out the door in the summer.

 

[drdoityourself]

Not nearly good enough to be getting starts. Not for Manchester United, not for any Premier League team, I struggle to find a Premier League team I see him getting many appearances in. Puts himself about but that's it. Will take a backpass every time. Not an ounce of creativity and he's starting as our nr.10? That's bad enough and now it seems he won't be taken off either. As I've said earlier he presents the embodiement of LvG, all about closing down space and sideways passing.
His supporters will say as above, not worse than anyone else. But he won't make anyone around him play better either.

 

[Ish]

he shouldn't be starting. But there's a few of them out there, not just him.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

The lad is shite. It's insane that he's been one of the first names on the team sheet this season.

Yup. Yet I've been criticised for saying he isn't good enough for months.

 

[pocco]

Typical Lingard performance, where's everyone to blow my mind and say he was good today? Or does that only happen if the rest of our attack produce the goods and get us the win?

 

[pocco]

Being able to perform every now and the for Manchester United, doesn't make you a Manchester United player. Quite the opposite.

 

[Devil may care]

Mastered the inverted false #10 role.

 

[MadDogg]

He's had a few fairly good games recently, but the game completely passed him by today. Someone playing in that position needs to be able to do...something...to get themselves involved and help turn the tide of the game.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Definition of a pointless player.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

All graft. He's had a couple of decent games as a #10, but ultimately it's too important a position IMO to be playing a "tryer" in.

 

[caisenma]

I honestly cant even remember the last time he was subbed.

An LVG player that will be scrapheaped as soon as a new manager is brought in.

 

[Robbie Boy]

He's absolutely nowhere near good enough to be a starter for us. Some on here seem to really rate him but I just don't see it.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Typical Lingard performance, where's everyone to blow my mind and say he was good today? Or does that only happen if the rest of our attack produce the goods and get us the win?

I wouldn't say it's typical today. He was definitely poor. When the game is tight, he doesn't have the intelligence to get into the pockets of space well enough. However, you cannot argue when the game needs to be pushed and stretched, he gives us a much needed central presence. Whether he should be getting chances ahead of Perreira/Januzai and Herrera though, that's another topic.

He totally should have been swapped with Mata where it would have suited Juan. Where there's pace in the game on and off the ball, Mata's quick thinking and touch would do much better there.

Crazy LVG tactics.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I wouldn't say it's typical today. He was definitely poor. When the game is tight, he doesn't have the intelligence to get into the pockets of space well enough. However, you cannot argue when the game needs to be pushed and stretched, he gives us a much needed central presence. Whether he should be getting chances ahead of Perreira/Januzai and Herrera though, that's another topic.

He totally should have been swapped with Mata where it would have suited Juan. Where there's pace in the game on and off the ball, Mata's quick thinking and touch would do much better there.

Crazy LVG tactics.

Even so I don't think he enough quality on the ball when he has time and space. He is far from good enough for the most creative position in a top team IMO

 

[Steven Seagull]

Mata would've been squashed into a little ball of white dog shit by Dier and Dembele and bowled down the tunnel. Lingard did absolutely nothing but it's not like we're blessed with players for this role. Maybe Herrera would've been a happy medium

 

[stevoc]

Lingard is a decent little player and a hard worker. But how the feck is he getting in the side?

Lingard at no.10 when Mata is on the pitch is mental, Lingard on the pitch when we have Depay, Herrera, on the bench and Januzaj not even getting a game is batshit crazy.

He's a young player and could improve in the future but right now the majority of the time especially in the middle he is an absolute passenger.

 

[Ash_G]

Thing is I can get him playing 10 in some situations, if you had a Carrick like player in the other team than someone like lingaard who can buzz around them and be useful in attack can be a plus. But it's got to be balanced. Mata is a far superior number 10 and weaker wide player. He doesn't have the same pace/energy as lingard and won't be as effective at winning the ball back but will be more effective at retaining and progressing the ball.

That's another thing that really annoys me about LVG. He gets in to certain mind sets and then is fixed on them until something massively goes wrong. He doesn't adapt his approach to the situation at all.

 

[Rado_N]

The lad is shite. It's insane that he's been one of the first names on the team sheet this season.

That'd be a bit more meaningful if anyone else had done anything aside from one shot from Martial.

Lingard was pretty ineffective today but I really find it hard to be overly critical of any individual player with the state of things at the moment. Apart from Rojo.

 

[Red Devil 26]

The fact that a player as mediocre as him can hold down a regular spot in our team is a damning indictment of our side right now. He doesn't have a single attribute that you could say was above average.

 

[Devil may care]

Mata would've been squashed into a little ball of white dog shit by Dier and Dembele and bowled down the tunnel. Lingard did absolutely nothing but it's not like we're blessed with players for this role. Maybe Herrera would've been a happy medium

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Lingard is a decent little player and a hard worker. But how the feck is he getting in the side?

Lingard at no.10 when Mata is on the pitch is mental, Lingard on the pitch when we have Depay, Herrera, on the bench and Januzaj not even getting a game is batshit crazy.

He's a young player and could improve in the future but right now the majority of the time especially in the middle he is an absolute passenger.

He is 24 this year. People seem to give him a pass because he is 'young', When you are nearly at mid-twenties I don't think you should class as a young player in football terms anyways.

 

[Lowkey]

The lad is shite. It's insane that he's been one of the first names on the team sheet this season.

considering we had 1 shot on goal it is not surprising. I was at the game and we literally had nearly all of our attacking players playing in positions that aren't natural to them. Jesse had a poor game yesterday but so did every other attacking player apart from Martial who we are relying on to make something happen out of nothing

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

considering we had 1 shot on goal it is not surprising. I was at the game and we literally had nearly all of our attacking players playing in positions that aren't natural to them. Jesse had a poor game yesterday but so did every other attacking player apart from Martial who we are relying on to make something happen out of nothing

So what's the excuse for the 26 other games he has been average in this season then?

 

[Revan]

Never seen anything special on him. He is basically William of Chelsea, but without any talent at all.

He will be lucky to spent most of his career in EPL.

 

[Lowkey]

So what's the excuse for the 26 other games he has been average in this season then?

He hasn't really been the problem. Our attacking options are limited at best. We rely heavily on our fullbacks being creative and providing quality crosses. Losing Shaw so early was a massive blow for how this team plays. Yesterday Fosu was a breath of fresh air on the right and Rojo got the ball in good areas but he just didnt do anything with it. I would prefer seeing Jesse on the right and Mata in the no.10. The amount of times yesterday Rose was 1v1 vs Mata was terrifying at best. That was a no contest.

Unfortunately we have a very stubborn manager where 50-60% of the team are not playing in their natural positions and it is showing on the pitch.

 

[PlayerOne]

Really don't like him playing at 10, IMO he's better on the right wing since he's a decent crosser. But really, should be a squad player and nothing more for us.

 

[Shamwow]

So what's the excuse for the 26 other games he has been average in this season then?

He hasn't been average in the 26 other games, he's been average in some and good in others.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

He hasn't been average in the 26 other games, he's been average in some and good in others.

I'd disagree. He has made 30 appareances this season and has had 3-4 good games. The rest were average to poor.

 

[stevoc]

He is 24 this year. People seem to give him a pass because he is 'young', When you are nearly at mid-twenties I don't think you should class as a young player in football terms anyways.

I don't know if you read the rest of my post but i wasn't exactly being complimentary to Lingard. Yes he's 23 but he's missed a year due to injury so i didn't want to be be too harsh on him. Yeah i suppose he's at an age where you can't really describe him as a youngster any more.

Personally i don't think he's good enough or ever will be. Not for where we want to be anyway. As long as players like him are fixtures in the side we will remain an average team.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

I don't know if you read the rest of my post but i wasn't exactly being complimentary to Lingard. Yes he's 23 but he's missed a year due to injury so i didn't want to be be too harsh on him. Yeah i suppose he's at an age where you can't really describe him as a youngster any more.

Personally i don't think he's good enough or ever will be. Not for where we want to be anyway. As long as players like him are fixtures in the side we will remain an average team.

I wasn't knocking your post at all, I totally agree with it. I was just describing the general consensus amongst our fans.

 

[Shamwow]

I'd disagree. He has made 30 appareances this season and has had 3-4 good games. The rest were average to poor.

We'll have to agree to disagree then as I think he's definitely had more good performances than 3-4.

 

[stevoc]

We'll have to agree to disagree then as I think he's definitely had more good performances than 3-4.

Lingard has had quite a few games where he has played well, or at least as well as he could have. So he can't be faulted most of the time.

But is that level good enough for United, no it isn't no were near in fact. The fact he (and a few others) has been a fixture in the side explains why we are scratching around in 5th outside the CL spots.

 

[Shamwow]

Lingard has had quite a few games where he has played well, or at least as well as he could have. So he can't be faulted most of the time.

But is that level good enough for United, no it isn't no were near in fact. The fact he (and a few others) has been a fixture in the side explains why we are scratching around in 5th outside the CL spots.

I was under the assumption that we're all pretty much in agreement by now that the reason we are in 5th is Van Gaal.

 

[stevoc]

I was under the assumption that we're all pretty much in agreement by now that the reason we are in 5th is Van Gaal.

Yeah no doubt it's mostly Van Gaal's fault but you do see that the squad he has assembled is pretty average.

Blind at CB, Rojo, Darmian, Lingard, Mata at RW, Fellaini are all average players at best and yet nearly every line-up contains a combination of 3-4 of them (sometimes more).

We aren't languishing in 5th because LVG is mismanaging a good team, aside from his continual poor/crazy choices we just don't have a very good team/squad right now.

Lingard being a virtual ever present in the team is a shining example of that.