Jesse Lingard Reveals The Problem With Man United Today & Why He Moved To Nottingham Forest | E214
Jesse Lingard (guest), Steven Bartlett (host), Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Diary of a CEO, featuring Jesse Lingard and Steven Bartlett, Jesse Lingard Reveals The Problem With Man United Today & Why He Moved To Nottingham Forest | E214 explores jesse Lingard Exposes Man United’s Culture Crisis And Personal Battles Jesse Lingard recounts his journey from a Manchester United academy prospect to leaving the club after feeling mismanaged, misunderstood, and mentally exhausted. He reveals how his mother’s lifelong depression, his own mental health struggles, and family responsibilities intersected with the pressures of elite football. Lingard contrasts the culture, facilities, and man-management at United with other clubs and managers, arguing that United became outdated, unstructured, and lacking control after Sir Alex Ferguson. He explains why he chose Nottingham Forest over West Ham, his plans beyond football, and why speaking publicly about mental health and truth in football has become essential to him.
Jesse Lingard Exposes Man United’s Culture Crisis And Personal Battles
Jesse Lingard recounts his journey from a Manchester United academy prospect to leaving the club after feeling mismanaged, misunderstood, and mentally exhausted. He reveals how his mother’s lifelong depression, his own mental health struggles, and family responsibilities intersected with the pressures of elite football. Lingard contrasts the culture, facilities, and man-management at United with other clubs and managers, arguing that United became outdated, unstructured, and lacking control after Sir Alex Ferguson. He explains why he chose Nottingham Forest over West Ham, his plans beyond football, and why speaking publicly about mental health and truth in football has become essential to him.
Key Takeaways
Early support structures and tough love can both propel and scar an athlete.
Lingard’s grandfather was pivotal, driving him to trials at Liverpool, City, and United, drilling him daily, and even putting him on weights at 10 due to his size. ...
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Unaddressed family mental health issues can silently shape a player’s performance.
Lingard’s mother suffered depression from when he was very young, spending most days in bed and later being hospitalized in 2019. ...
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Effective man-management—personal care plus accountability—separates the best leaders.
He praises Sir Alex Ferguson and Gareth Southgate for knowing players’ families, using personal touches (photos in England hotel rooms, remembering names) and still delivering “hairdryer” honesty when needed. ...
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Manchester United’s post-Ferguson problems go beyond players and spending.
Lingard argues that despite enormous transfer outlay, United lagged in infrastructure, culture, and clarity. ...
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Broken promises and communication failures erode trust between players and clubs.
Lingard details repeated assurances that didn’t materialize—being told he’d play under Solskjær, being promised a January loan if minutes were low, then having a West Ham loan nearly blocked by Ed Woodward, and a later Newcastle move stopped by John Murtough. ...
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Mental health crises often manifest as withdrawal and unhealthy coping, especially in men.
At his lowest, Lingard was drinking nightly “to take the pain away,” lying motionless on the sofa, and dreading every match. ...
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Career decisions driven by respect and ‘feeling wanted’ can outweigh status or money.
Despite thriving on loan at West Ham, Lingard chose newly promoted Nottingham Forest because they “showed the love” through persistent, personal efforts from the manager and owner. ...
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Notable Quotes
“I was on the pitch, but I just didn’t want to be on the pitch.”
— Jesse Lingard
“These world-class players are coming to United, and I’ll be honest, they’re looking average.”
— Jesse Lingard
“There was no control… it was like a free-for-all.”
— Jesse Lingard
“I needed to leave. I got offered a contract, but what’s the point? I’m not going to play.”
— Jesse Lingard
“I was drinking, stuff like that before bed, trying to take the pain away… but it makes it ten times worse.”
— Jesse Lingard
Questions Answered in This Episode
You’ve said world-class players looked average at United—can you pinpoint any specific internal processes or tactical instructions that you feel directly contributed to that drop-off in performance?
Jesse Lingard recounts his journey from a Manchester United academy prospect to leaving the club after feeling mismanaged, misunderstood, and mentally exhausted. ...
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Looking back, what concrete support or policy changes at Manchester United could have realistically helped you cope better when you became the primary carer for your siblings while your mum was hospitalized?
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You still don’t know why you missed out on the Euro 2020 squad after your West Ham form—if Gareth Southgate sat in front of you now, what exact question would you ask him, and what answer do you suspect he’d give?
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Given your experience of being misrepresented over the ‘two days off’ story, what rules or guidelines would you introduce for how clubs communicate about players in the media to protect trust on both sides?
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As you build One Touch and plan for an acting career, what have you learned from football’s dressing-room culture—both good and bad—that you deliberately will and will not carry into your leadership style in the entertainment world?
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Transcript Preview
What was going through my head at that time, I do not know. I was drinking, just trying to take the pain away.
It's tough, man. (heart beating) And Lingard! (crowd cheering) Absolutely fantastic. Jesse Lingard!
Hey, that's football. With a club like ManUnited, obviously it's all big. They can have that control over you, but people have a voice. Jesse, he asked if we could, uh, give him a couple of days off. When things are getting said about you that are not true, you've got to voice your opinion. I knew I needed to leave.
Do you have a suspicion why you weren't picked?
Hmm...
You do, don't you? I can see it in your face.
So this is the whole thing what happened. (instrumental music plays)
Is there a day that you look back on and you go, "That was the hardest day." (crowd yelling) Jesse, you're shit! You're dead (beep) , bro!
Getting that much abuse, and I'm already down and off, and I've got to perform. I was still trying to be Jesse, like, "Hey," like, banter, banter, jokes and that. But of course it's going to affect me. He's not done much at all this season. I'm already going through things that you don't know about. I felt like I had the world on my shoulders.
In 2019, your mother was admitted to hospital.
She couldn't really cope anymore.
Did you ever figure out what the root cause of your mother's depression was?
I think as soon as she had me, to be honest.
Thank you for tuning in to watch this episode. Honestly, an incredible episode, but I have to say thank you before we begin, because we've hit a million subscribers on this channel now, and I... it's almost unthinkable. It's, I can't... You know, I'm speaking for our entire team here when I say, it's genuinely, genuinely unthinkable. Biggest privilege of my life to get to do this. Means the world that you guys tune in every, every week, uh, to listen to these episodes. Roughly 65% of you that watch this channel now subscribe to the channel, which is amazing. If you haven't yet subscribed, could you please do me a little bit of a favor? Um, I can't tell you how much it helps this channel, and how much it's helped us to pull in amazing, amazing guests, and to expand everything within our operations. And how it's also gonna help us enable the, the year that's to come and all the plans we have, some huge plans, which I'm going to be bringing to you very shortly. Really, really hope you enjoy this episode. Thank you for being here. Thank you for helping us reach this huge milestone of a million subscribers. Let's get on with it. (instrumental music plays) Jesse, give me your context. What is the... Take me right back to when you were in those early years, as you signed and joined Manchester United, I think at seven years old. What was life like? If I'd been in your home, if I'd been in your surroundings, in your environment, what was life like?
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