Nottingham Forest forward Jesse Lingard needs to be doing more, according to Jermaine Jenas. The Reds signed the 30-year-old as a free agent during the summer but things haven’t really worked out.
It has been a frustrating time of things for Lingard. He was looking to get into his stride just before the World Cup but since football returned he’s struggled with a number of injuries.
Through no fault of his own, Lingard will always face scrutiny. The club decided to make the player their highest paid and with that comes a certain level of expectation.
As of yet, Lingard hasn’t scored or registered an assist in the Premier League. At times, he has worked hard, but it’s fair to say that more was expected of the man who has played at a World Cup for England.
Jenas has been interviewed by The Mirror and he certainly thinks more is required from Lingard. He said: “They spent all that money on Jesse Lingard and he’s not delivered. Jesse has to bring more to the table.”
Lingard started the game against Tottenham a fortnight ago but was back on the bench for the home game against Newcastle. That pretty much sums up his season, with a consistent run of form sadly lacking.
Lingard needs to be doing more and Jenas is right
It’s not unfair to say that the Lingard signing hasn’t really worked. The player is a likeable member of the dressing room and he has worked really hard to get himself right at Forest.
For whatever reason, however, things just haven’t gone according to plan for him. It’s been an expensive experiment by Forest and perhaps they will learn some lessons from this.
With Forest in freefall, they need something from their experienced players. That includes Lingard and Forest will hope he can come up trumps between now and the end of the season.