Manchester United spent well in excess of £100 million on ready-made talent last summer while also allowing a number of former bright young hopes to leave the club. To many it was the clearest sign yet that their focus had changed for good.
Once the bastion of British youth, the home of the fabled class of ’92, the ultimate example of just how much you can win with kids, United were now seen to be shifting paradigms to be more in keeping with the Manchester Citys and Chelseas of the world. The first instinct appeared to be to throw their excesses of cash around, with the nurturing of club-raised players seemingly an afterthought.
With Tom Cleverley, Rafael and Jonny Evans all sold, and the likes of Adnan Januzaj and Tyler Blackett shipped out on loan deals, the vast quantities of in-house options have certainly dwindled. Yet the rise of Jesse Lingard over the past few weeks proves that opportunities are still there for United youngsters if they have the quality and the mentality that Louis van Gaal demands.
During the last international break Lingard was little more than a name occasionally mentioned by the United manager to keep other players on their toes. Van Gaal would bring him up when speaking about competition for places, yet there had been no practical evidence of the 22-year-old's importance.
After suffering a serious knee injury during Van Gaal's first game in charge against Swansea in August 2014, Lingard had become a forgotten man. Yet his emergence over the past three weeks has shown that he can be a key figure as United look to regain an extra edge after a difficult period.
A side struggling to keep the fans onside due to the slower, more tepid style of play currently being served up by Van Gaal was becoming desperate for some energy, width and brazen attacking. Enter Lingard.
He made his seasonal debut as a second-half substitute at Everton in mid-October with United already leading 2-0. Van Gaal had asked him to provide a more direct threat than was offered by the more artistic Juan Mata in the first half and Lingard delivered. Any ideas the Toffees had of hitting United hard after the break were tempered by the wide man's counter-attacking qualities which forced back the opposition full-backs.
Since then Lingard has remained a key player for United. He started the Champions League trip to CSKA Moscow and teed up the assist for Anthony Martial's crucial equaliser. Van Gaal couldn't have been happier after the match.
"He's doing well, that's why I want to keep him and why I have said his chances shall come," raved the Dutchman.
"He has a lot of pace and I like pace on the wings. Now he has his first assist also. I think he shall have a boost from this game because he played very well in my opinion, and I hope he shall continue."
Four days later he came closer than anyone to breaking the deadlock in the Manchester derby after coming off the bench and hitting the bar with a flicked effort in the dying moments. That run had come from the kind of angled movement into space that has rarely been seen in United's ranks of late, other than from Lingard himself.
He found the woodwork once more in another 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough in the Capital One Cup before delivering a Man of the Match performance in the 1-0 win against CSKA on Tuesday. That display in midweek showed exactly what he can do as a wide player. He occasionally ran himself into trouble but refused to let that get to him. His reward for continuing to show great self-confidence was a game-winning assist and an excellent second-half performance on the whole.
"I was trying to be as direct as I could and get the crowd on their feet," Lingard explained after the match. "Obviously I had to be direct at the right time, so we had to be patient sometimes. I'm glad the goal came."
Don't be surprised to see him feature heavily once more against West Brom at Old Trafford on Saturday for at a time when Manchester United are lacking a spark in the final third, Lingard is proving the most likely to provide it. They are struggling for goals, yet Lingard has set up the last two they've scored and twice struck the woodwork in between times.
It might be a stretch to say it is time United based their attack around him, but they certainly look a better side at present when Lingard is being utilised regularly. The man once earmarked as a future star of some talent by Sir Alex Ferguson is certainly making the most of his chance.
Lingard is the most exciting thing about Manchester United's play right now.
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