Jesse Lingard drank alcohol regularly at Manchester United.
The reason was, among other things, the ability to deal with criticism from the club’s fans.
– I tried to suppress what happened, but it made it ten times worse, he said in an English-language podcast according to the Daily Mail.
Jesse Lingard says he ‘drank to get rid of the pain’, his Manchester United career fell apart and he battled mental demons.
The pressure of performing, harassment from fans and his mother Kirsty’s battle with depression completely sapped his enthusiasm for football as his career hit rock bottom in the 2019/2020 season.
– I drank before I went to sleep and took a nightcap. I look back now and think “Why did I do that for?” But I needed something to try and take the pain away,” says Jesse Lingard.
When his mother was hospitalized for her problems, he had to take care of his younger siblings, brother Jasper who was then 15, and sister Daisy Boo who was 11.
– I have been insulted a lot. I was already rock bottom and I needed to perform. I’ve been through things that those around me didn’t know, says Jesse Lingard, and it felt like the world was on my shoulders.
“It was completely empty.”
It got to the point where, despite his efforts to hide his problems from his training mates, he had to open up to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
– I was on the field but I didn’t want to be on the field, I didn’t want to play. I didn’t want to quit football, I never would have quit football, but I needed a break. I came to the games completely empty, says Jesse Lingard, and I obviously played poorly.
The Norwegian coach helped him a lot by caring and asking regularly about how his mother was doing.
At the age of 30, the attacking player left Manchester United for Nottingham Forest.
Time at Manchester United spanned eleven years from 2011 to 2022.