Jesse Lingard feels he can return to his best after opening up to manager Solskjaer about off-field issues that had “weighed on his shoulders.”
When his mother feels sick, Lingard assumed greater responsibility for his younger brother and sister. The situation impacted his performances for United on the pitch.
Nonetheless, a knock on Solskjaer’s door has helped him to kick-start his season.
“I felt it was best to get everything off my chest.” Said Lingard.
“I am normally quite bubbly and want to put smiles on people’s faces. But the people have seen the change in my ways.”
“I have been down and glum. Just worrying. I felt like everybody just passed all the stuff to me and it weighed on my shoulders. It was like, ‘here you go Jesse, you deal with this on your own.’
“I wasn’t performing and Solskjaer was on me all the time. He wanted more from me.”
Lingard revealed he had been told he was on his “last chances” by Solskjaer following an incident on social media over the summer.
After explaining his situation to the United boss, the midfielder was asked to “play with a smile.” Recently, he has started in victories over Tottenham and derby rivals, Manchester City.
On Solskjaer’s influence, Lingard said, he has just told me that everything will be okay. Maybe I just needed someone to say that.
“He just wanted the old Jesse back. And maybe, I can give him that now. Sometimes, when your worries are so deep, you can’t function properly. Now it’s about getting back to my best and I feel I can do that.”