Southampton's Jay Rodriguez looking to break back into starting XI after injury layoff

The hearts of many Southampton fans dropped in March of last year when it was revealed that 2013-14 season star Jay Rodriguez had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a game against Manchester City.

Now it looks as if the 25-year-old is set to feature again in the Saints’ 2015-16 campaign.

Rodriguez signed for Southampton from Burnley in June 2012 on a four-year deal with a transfer fee reported as being around £7 million. Quickly adjusting to playing for the South Coast club, the young winger finished his first year at Southampton with six Premier League goals from his 35 appearances.

Second time around, Rodriguez had a significantly higher goals to games ratio and had registered 15 Premier League goals, including five goals in four games leading into the City fixture, in his 33 appearances.

Rodriguez was the club’s second-highest goalscorer, only behind Rickie Lambert. Looking at the form he was carrying into the last six matches, it would be hard to go against him scoring more. Utilised by then-coach Mauricio Pochettino primarily as a left-winger, he also operated as a centre-forward on occasion, sitting in behind Lambert.

The ACL injury ruled Rodriguez out for the entirety of the 2014-15 season, only making his return to action for Southampton earlier this month in a friendly against RB Leipzig. It took the Englishman just eight minutes to grab his first goal, adding a second not long after to finish with a brace in the 4-5 defeat.

Rodriguez featured in the second of the Saints’ defeats in a preseason tournament in Austria, lining up in the side that was defeated 2-0 by Red Bull Salzburg, playing out the full 90 minutes. He again saw game time in the following game against Eredivisie team Groningen, which the English side won 3-0, replacing Sadio Mané midway through the second half. The English international grabbed another brace in the first half of the game against Dutch team KVV Quick 1920, which the Saints won 10-0, again playing out the full match.

Four goals in four preseason appearances would indicate the return to prominence of the winger, also demonstrating that Koeman has at least some level of confidence in him featuring in this season’s fixtures. This is, of course, is the first chance the Dutch manager has had to use Rodriguez.

Having brought in the likes of Dusan Tadic, Shane Long and last term’s star performer Sadio Mané, the starting XI positions out wide seem far from settled. However, a Europa League tournament to compete in means the club needs a deeper squad and that even those not at the top of the pile will get plenty of game time.

Whilst it cannot really be said that the Saints number nine brings something exclusive to the field, his smart touches, dribbling ability and finishing are still very much an asset. On top form, he would still seem a certainty in an ideal Southampton starting XI.

Should it suit better, the former Burnley man can slot into a more central role and sit in behind front man Graziano Pellè. The centre-forward role seemed one that the Saints struggled to fill adequately consistently last season, though new signing Juanmi operates primarily in that area and both Long and James Ward-Prowse (usually sitting a little deeper as more of an attacking midfielder) bring something to the position.

On the international scene, Rodriguez is targeting a return to the England squad in time for Euro 2016 after his injury saw him out of contention for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“As a player, you always want to play international level. So, obviously, I want to try to become the player I was, and obviously try to push my way back into the team,” Rodriguez said.

Regardless of the role he has in the squad, Southampton fans should be excited by the prospect of the returning star who was key to the club’s 2013-14 success and was one of the in-form Premier League players at the time of his injury.