Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has hailed the performances of Jesse Lingard of late whilst comparing his performances to Barcelona’s legendary midfielder Andres Iniesta.
The United graduate has excelled under Jose Mourinho since November, and he is now regarded as a regular starter for the Red Devils in the number 10 position.
In a report covered by Bleacher Report, Meulensteen, who was recently sacked from Kerala Blasters, spoke about the efforts put in by Lingard during the early phase of his career.
The 53-year-old continued to compare Lingard with Barcelona superstar Iniesta while insisting that he always knew of the Englishman’s ability to excel at the highest level.
“I saw so many similarities in their games, and I always believed that Jesse was the English Andres Iniesta. Like Iniesta, he finds these pockets of space, he is always on the move and has very good feet. The only thing missing until recently was goals, but now Jesse is scoring important goals too,” he said.
Despite the praise, Lingard is far off from coming close to the achievement of Iniesta, but United fans will nevertheless admit that the attacker has been one of the shining sparks of United’s season, scoring crucial goals which include a match-winning brace against Arsenal on the counter attack.
Iniesta played on the wings much earlier in his Barcelona career, but over the years, he has transformed into more of a central midfielder, thus allowing creative talents around him excel through his intrinsic passing.
Lingard, for now, needs to keep his consistency going through the next few years before he can considered anywhere near the calibre of Iniesta, who has won everything within reach for the club and country.
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