Jesse Lingard has had a few roller-coaster years. His mental health problems and failing health of his loved ones added to his poor performances on the pitch for Manchester United. But at that time, just before the first covid-related lockdown, nobody knew what the midfielder was going through.##EDITORS_CHOICE##They did not know what was going on in Lingard’s life. When his mum was admitted to a facility in London in 2019 for treatment, Lingard’s younger brother, Jasper, and younger sister, Daisy, came to live with him. He had them there for “longer than six months”, looking after them, ensuring they got to school and all the rest. His well-being crashed as he worried about his mum and felt his siblings missing her.”I can normally take criticism, but sometimes it gets to a point where it’s like: ‘Ahh, I can’t even be arsed doing this anymore.’ Nobody knew about my struggles off the pitch, so they think: ‘You’re a footballer, you live in a nice house, you’ve got money, you can deal with anything.’ But when it’s someone’s health and well-being – it’s a different situation. We’re all human.”Lingard on depression: “When you open up, you feel like a butterfly. You’re in a cocoon, you just open up, you can spread your wings and fly. It’s an amazing feeling and now I’ve got all that behind me, I can concentrate on football and my family.” pic.twitter.com/jDJesD8Kzk— Ironwork Tours (@IronworkTours) April 22, 2021 Speaking in the documentary Untold: The Jesse Lingard Story, the Englishman admitted that there was a time when the depression got to him so badly that he didn’t feel like getting out of the house, playing football or seeing anyone.”It was difficult around that moment in time. It was probably for months. I didn’t want to play in case I did badly and there was more scrutiny. Football is my happy place, but at that time, I couldn’t really put myself in that situation. I was playing, and I felt like I was nonexistent. The games were just passing me by.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6814487##The alarm bells in Lingard’s head started ringing when he realized that he was reaching for alcohol before bed.”Coming home, lying on the sofa and staring. I don’t know what was in my mind, but it must have been racing. I just wanted to sit at home and drink a little bit – try and take the pain away. I don’t do that, normally. Sitting at home and drinking before bed … that’s when I knew I was in a bad situation.”The lockdown in 2020 proved to be a blessing in disguise for Lingard. He desperately needed some time out of the spotlight and away from football. He remained at home, got his rest and then decided to return to the Manchester United camp fit and ready. He did a lot of running and exercise and got out of the dark place. Playing six months on loan at West Ham really put him back on the map as he scored nine Premier League goals for the London team.Lingard doing the griddy after scoring vs spurs 😭😭pic.twitter.com/4IGgFSrebF— 🏴 (@LJxmes) November 9, 2022 In the meantime, he left Manchester United to join Forest and try to build his reputation back up after years of stagnation. But his most significant achievement is beating his demons and realizing that it’s healthy to speak up.”I guarantee that many, many people will be going through depression, especially in football, which is such a mentally draining sport. For me, it was about opening up and speaking about it. You’ll never be judged because you’re a man, and you’re talking about mental health and your feelings. You’re not soft for it.”
