Lingard refusing to dwell on England’s failures of the past
NOW we are past the 50th anniversary of 1966 and England have endured half a century of hurt, it can sometimes feel as though the national team operate under a generational curse, passed on from one group of players to the next.
And then other times, that simply feels like middle-aged angst. Jesse Lingard, 24, is pondering the issue. The defeat to Poland in 1973 — regarded as the start of the failures — is mentioned and he is asked if he would know much about that. ‘Not really,’ he replies. It’s probably exactly how Gareth Southgate would want it. Though Southgate’s opening presentation to his players was a video of past failures, the intention was to unburden them, and show there was no pressure to maintain a glorious past. It simply doesn’t exist.
Lingard wasn’t in the squad for Euro 2016 and so is untainted by Iceland.
He is making his way at Manchester United and regarded by Southgate as key to England’s future. And crucially he appears to focus on the future rather than the legacy of the past.
‘I think from now we start from scratch,’ he said. ‘We’ve got a young squad now, a young manager and he showed us a video of the past, the failures and that, but for us as a young group now we’ve got to pull together with the talent we’ve got and make the most of it.
‘We played against Spain, we competed with Germany, we beat France. We’re up there now and when it comes to a tournament we’ll be on it.
‘I think with the talent that we’ve got in the squad, we can do damage.’
Of course the acid test will be in Russia not against Lithuania in a qualifier. For now Iceland remains the defining moment of this team.
But every new managerial reign is allowed a grace period to try and fix England’s psychological blocks. Lingard is in the vanguard of the new generation. Even Rio Ferdinand, a man well-connected to youth culture, admitted that he made him feel old.
Ferdinand had criticised Lingard and Paul Pogba for posting footage of a new dance they planned as a celebration. For Ferdinand, such trivialities did not sit well with a United side who were sixth in the League. Yet on reflection the ex-England centre-back decided he was being a bit po-faced. Social media is just a fact of life for this generation.
‘I spoke to Rio, but that’s just us,’ said Lingard, meaning him and Pogba. ‘We do what makes us happy. Fun plays a massive part in anyone’s life.
‘I’m the type of guy that’s always having a joke, but also when it comes to the serious stuff, your head’s on the game.’