Jesse Lingard reveals career advice given to him by Ronaldinho. The United player opened his account this season with a goal against Astana.
Jesse Lingard has not had the best of times in recent months. Before his goal vs Astana in United’s 2-1 loss in the Europa League, Lingard had last scored in January. A stretch of 28 games between his two goals this year has to be one of the longest droughts in football.
Also read: Lionel Messi makes an inspiring speech to Barcelona teammates before 4-0 loss to Liverpool
The 26-year old has become the subject of much ridicule after his poor run of form. However, he continues to play his game without getting bogged down and has credited Brazilian Superstar Ronaldinho for his positive outlook.
Jesse Lingard reveals career advice given to him by Ronaldinho
While speaking to the Mirror, Lingard revealed that a meeting with former Barcelona player and world cup winner Ronaldinho influenced how he approached his career. He said:
“When I watched videos of Ronaldinho, he’s always smiling no matter what. It’s the love of the game.
“I remember meeting him in America a few years ago, he said to me: ‘No matter what, always enjoy football, always play with a smile on your face.
“After that, I constantly do that. It’s mad watching videos of him, then actually meeting him and it felt mad for him to actually have that advice for me. You take that on board from one of the all-time greats.”
“As soon as I kicked a ball, I was happy. I’ve always enjoyed football growing up and wanted to take that into the first team. You can’t stop smiling on the pitch, stop being happy.
“Everyone who dreamed of being a footballer and is a footballer, our dreams are made and we’re in a nice position so all I can do is smile. Of course, you want to win the game but that enjoyment side is important.”
Lingard added that Manchester United had the same outlook and claimed that Manchester United, despite their current run, are still a winning team.
“Everyone knows the values of Man United. We’ve always been a winning team. We love to win games and win trophies, and that’s the main thought in our heads: to win trophies.
“It’s so important. I remember lifting the FA Cup, the League Cup and Europa League and there’s no better feeling. The hunger is always there.
“It’s so positive at United. If we can think positive all of the time then we’ll really do well.”
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