Garth Crooks questions Solskjaer wisdom over Man Utd ‘transfer mistake’

Garth Crooks

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may begin to second guess himself after Jesse Lingard’s brilliant start to life at West Ham, according to Garth Crooks.

The Manchester United midfielder has stagnated in the last 18 months and has had increasingly-limited match action under the Norwegian.

As such, United were happy to sanction the England midfielder’s exit after David Moyes asked about a short-term loan.

However, Lingard has impressed so far at the London Stadium and appears to have found a new lease of life.

Indeed, Lingard claims he wasn’t given a chance to prove his worth to Solskjaer after the first national lockdown.

United’s ‘loss’ though appears to be very much the Hammers’ gain.

As such, BBC pundit Crooks believes Lingard’s form since joining West Ham will leave Solskjaer questioning his own judgement.

“The way Jesse Lingard is playing for West Ham at the moment brings into question the wisdom of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to let him go to east London on loan in the first place,” Crooks told BBC Sport.

West Ham v Tottenham Match Preview, February 21, 2021

West Ham v Tottenham Match Preview, February 21, 2021

A look ahead to the Premier League game between West Ham and Tottenham, including stats on form, possession, shots, cards, corners, top scorers and previous meetings.

“David Moyes will know only too well from his own days at Old Trafford what the lad is capable of. He plays him in a role that suits the England international perfectly. When he’s on form, and he is at the moment, his ability to transition the play from defence into attack is as good as I’ve seen from any player. He demonstrated it beautifully against Sheffield United.

“Of course Manchester United have Bruno Fernandes to do that. But should anything happen to him they could regret letting Lingard go out.”


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Lingard not giving up

Lingard has scored twice in three games for West Ham as he looks to get his career back on track.

And the 24-times capped England star is insistent he wants to start enjoying his football again.

“First and foremost I’m here to play, win and help the team, so hopefully I can do that and we’ll see where we’re at come the end of the season,” he told BT Sport.

Jesse Lingard

“It’s about playing with a smile on my face and enjoying my football and getting back to the old Jesse.

“During the lockdown, I recapped my best moments playing football – the season under Jose [Mourinho] where I scored all of those goals and went to the World Cup and the season when Ole came in and I started well.

“I started getting that fire in my belly and drive again to go and kick on. It would have been easy for me to fall off and take the easy option out.

“But a person like me who’s been through a lot and knows the game, I can’t just give it up like and I’ll always go out with a fight.”

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