Is It Time To Use Jay Rodriguez Up Front ? Monday, 4th Nov 2013 10:18 Jay Rodriguez is now Saints top scorer this season, is it now time to consider using him in his true position up front in some matches. When Jay Rodriguez arrived at St Mary's in the summer of 2012, it would have been easy to mistake him for a player a couple of years younger than his then age of having just turned 22, Saints had spent big and made him the record signing at the time, but he looked a little lost initially, a boy in a mans world. Some would say that he was not bought to replace Rickie Lambert, given that Saints were about to change to a rigid 4-5-1 system, if Rodriguez wasn't bought to replace Lambert, he was certainly an insurance policy and in many respects it was no surprise that it was the new boy from Burnley who started in the team against Manchester City on the opening day with Rickie on the bench. What happened next was no fault of Rodriguez, Lambert did what he always seems to do when he is being tipped for his demise, he worked even harder and made sure that he was worth his place in the team, meaning that Jay Rodriguez had to settle for either a place on the bench or being played out of position. Rodriguez showed that like Lambert he had the work ethic too, he often found himself played out wide in midfield and he quietly got on with the job, often the unsung hero of the team, many supporters can recount all of Lambert's goals, but don't remember games like the relegation six pointer at Wigan were Rodriguez made both goals. This season Rodriguez found himself relegated even further down the pack for a place up front, the arrival of Osvaldo putting more pressure on Lambert and meaning that he would often have to again play out wide or sometimes not at all and find himself on the bench with both Osvaldo & Lambert being preferred. But in all the speculation Jay just did what he has always done and that's get on with things, but those who looked at him more carefully in the early part of the season could see something had changed, he had beefed up and looked like a man instead of a nervous boy who harboured doubts about his ability to play at this level. Now after 10 games there is much talk about the form of Lovren, much debate about Wanyama much discussion about whether Lambert can hold his place ahead of Osvaldo when the Italian returns from injury, but how many are championing Jay Rodriguez ? the answer is not that many and if Saints are the surprise package of the Premier League this season, then Rodriguez is perhaps the surprise package of the Saints squad ! We can debate about who is the best striker for Saints, whether its Lambert OR Osvaldo, but whilst most of the talking about that is done off the pitch, J Rod has quietly done his off of it. Rickie Lambert for instance has had 26 shots and scored 3 goals, one has been a penalty, the second a free kick and the third from a set piece when he headed in against Fulham, on top of that he has got one assist to his name, a goal every 3 games on the face of it isn't a bad record for a Premier league striker, but when a third of them are penalties it doesn't bode too well to be blunt. Pablo Osvaldo's record is even worse, Ok he has played a lot less game time than Lambert, but 13 shots with 1 goal and no assists is not great for a striker at any level. So lets look at Rodriguez in comparison, he has exactly the same number of goals as Lambert, but crucially all have been from open play, Lambert and Osvaldo have four between them, but only one truly from open play, that being Osvaldo's against Palace. He has exactly the same number of assists as Lambert in only 1 so far, so in that area he is matching his two rivals for a spot up front as Osvaldo hasn't got any. So the big question is with Saints relying so much on set pieces and dead ball situations to score goals is it time to try a different approach in some games and I do stress some games. From what I have seen this season our problems are in creating decent chances from open play, but the problem is not that we don't have anyone in the team to create them, but we seem to have no one up front to make runs for them, James Ward Prowse has shown he can pick a pass and Ramirez ability is undisputable, but their talents are being wasted if they just have to pass the ball sideways all the time. On Saturday at Stoke, Saints played a lo of nice short touch football, they had 61% of possession, but how many true chances did they create, only once could JWP look up and see someone making a run and losing his marker, that man was Rodriguez and he showed that he knows how to finish. So our problem is that for all our possession we need an outlet, is Lambert that outlet ? at home yes, but away from home where a lone forward often becomes isolated, then don't think he is that man, you need someone who is mobile to provide an outlet and for all his strengths and Rickie does have many, he isn't mobile enough and he isn't a channel runner, Rickie relies on strength to hold off his man rather than guile to peel off him and make a run, so is reliant on dead ball situations to play his part in games like Stoke. Osvaldo had his chance at Manchester United, but in truth he didn't look like he was mobile enough either and certainly didn't look strong. So is it time to consider employing Jay Rodriguez in the position that we signed him for in the first place ? I would say it has to be a strong consideration, he has shown this season that he is perhaps the best finisher at the club, his goal against Swansea showed that he can get in there and battle for the ball, against Fulham he showed that he is strong in the air, not only by scoring himself at the back post, but in the way he flicked on the corner for Rickie Lambert's goal and on Saturday at Stoke, he showed an ability to make a run as well as the fact he knows how to finish. It was surprising he was taken off for Ramirez, personally I would have liked to have seen him used up front in place of Lambert and have given Ramirez someone with a bit of pace and ability to make runs to aim at, likewise Jamie Ward Prowse, we are wasting their talents if we have no one who can get on the end of pin point passes. I don't think its the end of Rickie Lambert at Southampton Football Club, at least not unless he feels that he needs to be an automatic choice if he wants to go to Brazil with England, but we have to add another dimension to our game, Jay Rodriguez could well be that man. I know some wont like to hear this, but in my opinion Jay Rodriguez has worked hard on his game, out of all of the three contenders to play up front, he perhaps has the most in his locker, he can hit a ball, he can head a ball, he can make runs, he can create chances and he has genuine pace, if he continues to show he can use those attributes then he has to be considered as the number one choice up front, certainly he is number one if we use statistics alone, but as I mentioned I think what might be the real benefit of playing him up front could be the fact that it would certainly help James Ward Prowse and could be the thing that makes Ramirez become revered as a Saints player. 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