Jay Rodriguez need not be too downhearted by his performance for England against Chile on Friday night according to the man whose opinion matters on the subject, England boss Roy Hodgson
Quoted in the Lancashire Telegraph due to Rodriguez connections with Burnley, Hodgson admitted that it had been a tough introduction to International football for the Saints player.
Hodgson said: "It was a very tough one for Jay, I thought.
"Jay was fine. He worked hard, did all the right things and he must not in any way be disappointed with his performance.
"He is a guy we will keep watching. It was a tough one for him to come in and play in, especially when we were 1-0 down early on and Chile had their tails up.”
The England manager clearly rates J Rod as one for the future and seems to comment about his potential more often than he does about Rodriguez potential rivals for a berth in the England squad, which obviously is a good sign for the player.
Whether Rodriguez gets on the plane to Brazil or not is still a long way off and there are many things that will decide that not least the players form for Saints, however I just have the feeling that what might give Rodriguez the edge over several of the other hopefuls for a place in the squad is his ability to play in several different positions, Hodgson himself has hinted at this, which makes me think that perhaps Jay has a better chance of going than either Adam Lallana or Rickie Lambert, whilst their form is better than Rodriguez overall this season, they play in specific roles and are unlikely to be able to force out the likes of Wayne Rooney or Andros Townsend as first choice in their position unless its through injury, therefore for fringe players as all of our current England trio are likely to be what could push them up in the pecking order is what else they bring to the table and in that respect Rodriguez does offer more.
Im not saying that he is currently better than either Lambert or Lallana, but what I am saying is that if the last place in the squad is between the three of them, and then Hodgson has to decide to take a striker or midfielder, he might just think that in Rodriguez he has got both.