‘We trust Jesse’ – Southgate hails ‘Excellent’ Lingard as West Ham ace earns England call-up
West Ham duo Declan Rice and Jesse Lingard have received call ups to the England squad for the upcoming matches with San Marino, Albania and Poland.
The midfielders have been in excellent form as of late and are both duly rewarded by Gareth Southgate. Rice has been involved in every England squad since his debut in 2019 and scored his first goal for the national side against Iceland in November 2020.
The big news is the inclusion of Lingard, the attacker hasn’t represented England since 2019. He’s been outstanding for the Hammer since his loan switch and has got rather fortunate with some other players picking up injuries.
Speaking on Sky Sports News on Thursday [02:10pm], Southgate explained why he’s included Lingard for the first time in two years. He said: “We’ve got injuries in the attacking areas that have opened up an opportunity for Jesse.
“But I have to say, his performances for West Ham have been excellent, four goals in six games. We know he can perform at the level. We know he’s been a really good member of our squad.
“Both in terms of his general link-up play and he’s scored goals for England as well. So there is no doubting his quality. We trust Jesse, and think he can play a big part in these three games.”
A huge opportunity
We’ve said it before, Lingard’s excellent attitude and professionalism are deserving of a national call up. He could have so easily sat on the bench at United, earned his money and lived an easy life.
Instead, he chose to get out of his comfort zone, move to West Ham and become a star in our high performing team. He’s fortunate with the injuries to other attacking talent, but if Lingard can get on the pitch in the three games and make an impact, it will be hard for Southgate to ignore him in the future.
It’s excellent news for us West Ham fans, also. Lingard has been playing like a man possessed since signing, he’ll have even more confidence now. After this taste of the England side again, he’ll be more determined than ever to get a place in the squad for the Euros.
He has to take this chance first, though. If he plays anything like he has done for us, he’ll be just fine. Well done to him, it’s thoroughly deserved.
In other West Ham news, here are three things to look out for as we clash with Arsenal.