I find it kind of interesting how the criticisms of Lingard are pretty varying depending on the individual. I just want to go into each of the main ones I've noticed.
1. He spends a lot of time posting on social media
I wouldn't say he's obsessed, but even if he were, I don't see the problem with this in itself. I think a lot of older supporters probably point this out more than younger supporters, because younger generations are more and more likely to make heavy use of social media, it's part of the culture of these generations. Even older ones are starting to be more prominent in recent times, although that is primarily Facebook. But yeah, for me, this is not something that really justifies criticism. It's just a personal choice on how they spend their time.
2. He does stupid dances
See above, but take out the generational thing. Remember when everyone did the macarena? What about cowboys doing line dancing. Are they stupid? What about ballet performers, breakdancers, all those hot girls you probably are more than happy to watch when they do their thing in the latest music video or on stage. What about cheerleaders? Are they all stupid? No. The guy likes to dance. This is something that has been done since time prehistoric. It's not an issue. Most of us have probably danced. I don't like to dance, but I've done it. And I don't think it's bad that other people DO like to dance. It's a hobby of choice.
3. He has a stupid nickname
Have you seen the nicknames of the people mocking him for using JLingz? We all do this. If he was going around with pretty much any of the usernames posting in this thread, he'd probably be mocked just the same. Hypocricy.
4. He is overpaid
He's paid the amount that someone is willing to pay him. That is not his fault in any way whatsoever. Footballers still pale in comparison to what most people earn in other industries. They just happen to have their name in the papers on a daily basis, while I doubt many of you know who most of the billionaires in our country are, let alone the 2,850,000 millionaires in the UK. Clue: Most of them aren't footballers. For perspective, as of May 2022, only 20 active footballers in the UK have over £20m to their name (this included Pogba, Shaw, Rashford and Varane at United). Yes, the top level footballers earn a lot of money - but even the highest earning footballers are genuinely earning very little compared to the highest earners in almost every other industry. They're just in our faces all the time, that's all. I agree that footballers are paid a lot of money, but I don't agree with how society makes a target out of them when they are still trivial numbers compared to other industries where it's so, so, so much easier to earn big money.
5. He underperformed for us
This is subjective, first and foremost, and there is a lot to dissect. Was he working hard? Was he following instructions? Was he showing up for training? Was he performing better than the alternatives we had in his position? If the answers to all of these questions are "Yes", then we have no right to complain about his level of performance, we only have a right to complain that our club wasn't able to bring in a better option. I have yet to hear that Lingard was not working hard enough from anyone from Manchester United except himself and that should be something we respect, we generally like a player who thinks he can do better and has accountability, regardless if it's humility, self-deprecation or valid. He wasn't picking the team, so even if he wasn't performing as good as alternative players, I'd say that'sstill not an issue with Lingard, but an issue with the manager. As far as I can tell, Lingard by all accounts except his own was actually a very good hard working player.
6. He was the leak!
I think most of us can agree that there were multiple leaks, and I think we're generally playing a guessing game on establishing who they are. There's no way to know for certain. However, I do feel that this is the most valid criticism if you feel it's genuinely likely that he was a key leak at our club. But I'm more a person who prefers to err on the side of innocent until proven guilty. Personally I will always be giving Pogba the side-eye on this regard, so I respect that just as I have the right to suspect Pogba, you guys have the right to suspect Lingard. Maybe both of them did it. I dunno. But I don't think I'll ever know. Honestly it could have been Mata and Matic and I'd be none the wiser.
7. He insulted our club
Did he? Does he? Where? I haven't seen this. I've seen him criticising it and we all do that on a daily basis. I dare say you find more that people in this forum are the ones who are more likely to insult Manchester United. Lingard, as far as I know, hasn't insulted the club. Henderson did a bit, Ronaldo arguably did, Pogba probably did. Lingard? Not that I'm currently aware of.
8. He's just annoying!
Yeah, I suppose him posting his views on things in a public, online environment is annoying. Wait, what are we doing in this thread again? ...Ah.
So honestly I think #6 (Leak) is the only valid criticism, but it's entirely without proof, equivalent to a conspiracy theory at this point. Perhaps #5 (Underperformance) is valid but from all accounts I'm aware of he was at the very least doing more to earn his playtime than others competing with him were, or else he simply didn't get played. I suppose #8 (Annoying) is a reason for anyone to dislike anyone, but seriously, it's not worth the extremes some people go to for any footballer. Perhaps some of us need to take a step back and focus on more important things than the people who annoy us.
Anyway, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk, or whatever it is that the kids say these days at the end of a monologue.