Frank McAvennie ‘absolutely delighted’ for Lingard as West Ham loan star shines for England
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie is “absolutely delighted” for Jesse Lingard after the West Ham star impressed for England on Thursday night.
Although it was a routine 5-0 win for the Three Lions against FIFA’s lowest-ranked team San Marino, 28-year-old Lingard stood out above all others at Wembley as Gareth Southgate’s men started World Cup qualifying with a big win.
Lingard, who’s been in stellar form at club level since joining the Hammers on loan from Manchester United in January, assisted Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s second goal in the win over San Marino and won the player of the match award.
McAvennie has hailed Lingard for not only his impact at West Ham but has also paid tribute to the attacker for massively boosting his chances of making the England squad for the European Championships this summer.
“I’m absolutely delighted for the boy because he’s a talent. There’s no doubt he’s a talent,” said ex-Scotland and Hammers striker McAvennie to West Ham Zone.
“Apparently, in the dressing room, he’s chirpy and he’s laughing. It’s good to see the boys enjoying themselves again.
“I think the West Ham team is a more attacking team than a defensive one. The defence takes care of itself, there’s a couple of boys in there who want to defend like Dawson. But Lingard has just fitted in brilliantly.
“You couldn’t have asked for any more.
“He’s got what he wanted too. Who would have thought at the start of the season that Lingard would have been in the running for the Euros?”
We doubt McAvennie will be pleased to see Lingard in the summer when Scotland take on England at the European Championships.
England have a group containing Scotland, Croatia and the Czech Republic, which is super interesting for West Ham.
Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal will no doubt be representing the Czech side while McAvennie will surely be eager to see how England versus Scotland unfolds – as well as almost everyone else in the UK.
It’s going to be a great tournament and surely Lingard will be there with how he’s done at West Ham since January.
In other West Ham news, our panel of Super Fans were blown away by Lingard’s performance for England on Thursday.