WHZ View: Lingard’s excellent attitude at West Ham deserving of England call-up
Jesse Lingard’s loan to West Ham appears to have paid off as he is looking very likely to receive an England call-up on Thursday.
The attacker, 28, moved to East London in January having not featured once in the Premier League for Manchester United. He’s slotted into the Hammers frontline and looks right at home in claret and blue.
According to The Athletic, our number 11 has a ‘strong chance’ of being included in Gareth Southgate’s squad. If selected, it would be his first national call-up since 2019.
England are set to begin their road to the Qatar 2022 World Cup in March. They face San Marino, Albania and Poland in the coming weeks.
Thoroughly deserved
Should he be called up, this would end a perfect couple of months for Lingard. His attitude since his debut has been outstanding, undoubtedly taking our players up another level with his displays.
Six games, four goals, an assist and two penalties won. It appears that Southgate has been impressed by this return. Could he really be selected for England again after just six Premier League games all season?
One thing that must be factored in is the injuries at the moment. James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho have all been ruled out through injury. That aside, Lingard has been one of the most inform players in the top-flight. He was one of six nominee’s for the Player of the Month award for February.
Admittedly, a call up would come with a slice of good fortune given the attacking injuries, but this is a big chance for Lingard and a reward for his attitude. He could have easily sat on the United bench, or reserves, collected his wage and stayed comfortable in Manchester.
But instead, he decided to take a chance, prove his doubters wrong and get back to playing football. He’s looking like the player that went to the World Cup semi-final with England in 2018, and arent we reaping the rewards for it in east London.
In other West Ham news, Arsenal’s left-flank will pose a threat to us on Sunday.