Jay Rodriguez could find himself in an England squad very soon if rumours from within the camp are true.

It appears that Jay Rodriguez recent good form not only in scoring goals but creating them as well hasnt gone unoticed and the talk around the England camp is that Roy Hodgson may well call him up to the England squad in the near future.

ll the cry from Saints supporters has been about Rickie Lambert for England, but whilst that clamour has been going on Jay Rodriguez has been the man in form and starting to justify why Saints made him their then record signing in the summer.

Those that wonder why J Rod may get the call and Rickie Lambert probably wont despite some great performances this season from the number 7, may wonder why this is the case and many will cite age as the reason.

But whilst Rickie's age will be a big factor and the truth is that few players earn their first cap after 30, although its not completely unheard of, ex Saint Kevin Davies for example, its not just about age why Rodriguez might get the nod while Rickie wont, to be blunt Rodriguez has a lot more in his locker than Lambert and perhaps the most important part of that locker in respect to an England cap is pace and mobility.

Perhaps the strangest thing though if he does get called up is that J Rod will have done so being played out of position, in truth he is more of an out and out striker, here he isnt playing in a central role or even as one of a two man attack, but is utilised from out wide to augment the attack when neccessary.

This will bring on interesting choices for Pochettino next season, there will come a time when Rodriguez will be the better choice for that lone striking role and that might not be liked by many Saints supporters, at the moment Rodriguez has almost got in the side by default, if Ramirez had produced the goods and Lallana and Puncheon had been either fit in the case of Lallana or consistent in the latter's case, then Rodriguez might have been on the bench a lot more, at the moment its been a case of playing a square peg in a round hole, its worked in the short term, but in the long, if we are going to play the system that both the club and the manager seem to favour, then that involves having in the right players in the right positions and in the case of 4-5-1 that is having fast wide men who can not only attack but defend.

But for the moment its about J Rod and there is no doubt that he has the quality for the Premier League, and to end on a controversial note, he has done it out of position, how good would he be if playing as the lone striker, I dont think the time is right now, Rickie Lambert is in excellent form, the formation is working, but if a team has to improve it has to play its best players in their best positions, the only question perhaps is when will J Rod be considered the best choice for the lone spot up front, if Saints spend big in the summer and bring in the right players it could be next season.            

Photo: Action Images

hortonsaint added 09:46 - Apr 10 I'd agree that in a defensive 4-5-1 it makes more sense to play Jay Rod as the sole striker, however since MP we've played a variation of 4-2-3-1 which is very fluid and allows a lot of interchange of position in the front 4. The wider players of the 3 are given more freedom than in a 4-5-1 with the 2 holding mids needing to be alert to cover wide areas defensively at times. This suits Jay who benefits from Lambert dropping into wide and deep areas to create space and link up with players getting beyond him. There is no point Ricky staying high as he has no pace but he is an intelligent player whose movement off the ball often goes unnoticed in the build up to goals. I'm not sure Jay would play the lone role in the same way as he would always be looking to stay high and run in behind. I would guess too that when up front in the past at Burnley he has played the role with a partner in a 4-4-2 which is very different to the lone role. I may be wrong but my instinct is that MP sees his current position as his long term one in this system which Ricky is integral to. I do think both deserve to be talked about for call ups and yes whilst mobility is important at international level, so is football intelligence which Ricky possesses in abundance in the way Sheringham did.

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SaintNick added 09:49 - Apr 10 Some good points, im not sure that MP sees this as long term in that it does leave us open to counter attack which we don't have the defenders to deal with at the moment, if we stick with it it will mean tightening up at the back a bit more
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Jesus_02 added 09:57 - Apr 10 Not sure that Its case of Lambert OR J-rod for England. They are both quite different. My Argument for Lambert has always been that he would be the perfect understudy for Rooney as he plays a very similar role. J-Rod has a good first touch a burst of pace and a good finish (when confident) I cant see him holding the ball up or delivering a pass nearly as well as Rickie who in my opinion has "more in his locker"

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hortonsaint added 10:04 - Apr 10 I guess though Nick MP hopes to have the defenders with the required mobility for the system in place. I like it when we play the 4-4-1-1 which we seem to for phases of games when Jay goes up top and plays around Ricky. We did this at Villa under NA and it worked well. Overall though we are seeing a less rigid formation than that which is very exciting but as you point out Nick makes us vulnerable at times

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hortonsaint added 10:04 - Apr 10 I guess though Nick MP hopes to have the defenders with the required mobility for the system in place. I like it when we play the 4-4-1-1 which we seem to for phases of games when Jay goes up top and plays around Ricky. We did this at Villa under NA and it worked well. Overall though we are seeing a less rigid formation than that which is very exciting but as you point out Nick makes us vulnerable at times

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hortonsaint added 10:04 - Apr 10 I guess though Nick MP hopes to have the defenders with the required mobility for the system in place. I like it when we play the 4-4-1-1 which we seem to for phases of games when Jay goes up top and plays around Ricky. We did this at Villa under NA and it worked well. Overall though we are seeing a less rigid formation than that which is very exciting but as you point out Nick makes us vulnerable at times

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 11:04 - Apr 10 Poche will stick to his 4-2-3-1 system with Rickie the main man up top. He does need better centre backs in this system but I'm sure the club will spend heavily on this area in the summer. As for Rodriguez getting a call up ahead of Lambert, I'd say that would be very harsh on Lambert. Rickie has been superb all season and deserves a call up for the Ireland friendly. He could definitely do a job for England if Hodgson is willing to accomodate him. Rodriguez is one for the future for England. If he continues to progress like he has in the last 10 games then he'll be quite some player!

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Toussaint added 11:13 - Apr 10 Seem to recall Jrod being selected over Mr.Lambert that first game of the season and i wasnt very impressed ,i didnt think he looked strong enough to hold up,but through the season he has gotten stronger and stronger and his confidence has grown,skies the limit for this kid if he keeps the weight- training going like Bale and Ronaldo had to Shaw Clyne Cork and Jrod should all be in the England squad imo ,not being biased either

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bstokesaint added 13:30 - Apr 10 Always liked J-Rod and had to convince the bloke I sit next to he wasn't an "£8 million donkey"!! He's always had a good touch and to be fair I'm sure he wasn't enjoying the wider role he was having to play in. I'm glad for him that he's on good form now and that £8m seems to be a bargain for an international forward.. Regarding Lambert he is a totally different player and also deserves a chance. If we were to believe he really is "very similar to Grant Holt or Andy Carroll" (very lazy Teddy - watch a bit more football) then he'd never get a call-up. Thing is we know he's much better than that.

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stmichael added 16:32 - Apr 10 The only thing that jayrod does better than Ricky is speed. It categorically ends there. Not a replacement however in case you have notices they combine superbly. They both roam as was proved on sat when Ricky dropped deep to play Jrod iin. Do you still think lee Barnard is better than Ricky :)
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