Lingard hoping recent form kick starts Manchester United
Manchester United are currently second in the Premier League table and could secure a place in the Champions League knockout stages this week.
Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard is hoping that the sides dramatic win against Watford on the weekend can get the side on a winning run and increase the pressure on their rivals in all competitions.
United are currently going through a good phase with the win on Saturday taking them above Manchester City and Arsenal in the race for the Premier League crown.
Their is a long way to go but psychologically it is a big boost for the Red Devils with the side usually slammed for their performances despite grinding out wins under manager Louis van Gaal. And in football the wins are all that matter and United are currently doing that at present. Lingard is one of those players in the starting XI and the 22 year-old is taking his chances after another strong display at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
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The youngster was recently called up to the England squad too after his run in the side and again he is set to start against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League this week with Wayne Rooney likely to return.
United are looking to secure their status in the group by beating the Dutch side. A win will qualify them into the knockout round before they travel to Wolfsburg in their final game. That will be a huge clash with both sides looking to finish in top spot. And Lingard is aware that their are some big games coming up and has called on the side to kick on after their last minute win against Watford – their first since 2012 under Sir Alex Ferguson.
"“It’s massive,” he told ManUtd.com. “It’s a bit of a statement to the other teams, who will look at this and see we’ve won. It puts a bit more pressure on them, but it’s a good feeling to be back up there.“It was a great way to end the game. I thought it was a scrappy match overall, the conditions didn’t help, but we had to keep our concentration throughout and it’s great to get the win.“There are a lot of games coming up, we’ve got a lot of injuries at the moment and have to adapt to that, I thought we did that well today. As long as we win as many games as we can over Christmas, I think we’ll be fine.”"
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United are normally a side who get late goals, however, in the last few years that hasn’t been the case. David Moyes changed the sides style and the confidence was lost from early on.
Van Gaal then came in and has been using the passing style football which he’s done at every club on his CV. And that has usually led to United failing to kill off teams and on Saturday the same thing nearly happened.
However, Bastian Schweinsteiger’s late deflected effort was enough to give the Red Devils the win which was much needed. And when asked whether he believed the Reds would get a late winner, the wide man admitted that they had chances to do so. He said:
"“Definitely. We created a lot of chances, and personally I should have scored a couple of clear-cut chances. I’ve obviously got to work on that but it’s great to see Basti at the back post to stick one in at the end. It’s been a long time coming for him, and he’s deserved it.”"
Next: Is Ronaldo the answer for Manchester United?
United are now second in the league table behind Leicester City who they take on Saturday in the evening game. Hopefully Van Gaal will have options with a number of injuries hitting the squad in the last 10 days.