Lallana to Brazil?

It was after Southampton's 3-0 demolition of Fulham that Mauricio Pochettino was asked about man of the match, Adam Lallana's, England credentials. His response, ''You can see he is one of the most talented players in England. He is very special and hopefully he can go to Brazil because he fully deserves it. In my opinion, if Lallana had Brazilian nationality or Spanish nationality, if he were another Mata or Oscar, he would be going with their national side. I truly believe that." Not a bad little ego boost if you are Adam Lallana, obviously Pochettino is going to be somewhat biased in his opinion of the attacking midfielder, but is there any truth to this statement?

Lallana has so far made two appearances for his country, in the back to back friendly defeats against Chile and Germany in November. He will most likely be given one more opportunity to shine, in next months friendly against Denmark, before Hodgson is left to decide his squad for Brazil. Hodgson was in the stands at Craven Cottage and will surely have been impressed by what he saw, Lallana scored the opening goal and was pivotal in Southampton's dismantling of the Fulham defence.

He is a player who can play out wide, or tucked in behind the striker, is comfortable with both feet and plays with a certain guile that is not often attributed to English footballer's. He looks as if he had been nurtured by a country placing emphasis on technique and skill as opposed to brute strength and power. So it is easy for one to see how Pochettino can make this statement, it may be a little early for a comparison to the Mata's and Oscar's of this world but the signs are there for all to see.

Many will point to Ross Barkley being the future of English football, an undoubtedly intelligent and classy player but for me, this is one tournament too soon for the Everton youngster. Lallana is still only 25 and you can't help but think the best is yet to come, in his 24 league games so far, Lallana has scored 7 goals with 5 assists to his name. That's one more goal and three more assist's than Oscar has to his name this season, maybe not too soon then, hey?

So here's to hoping that Lallana keeps up this impressive run of form for Southampton as on his day, he is a wonderful player to watch. Hodgson will no doubt want to take another look at the player on the international stage when England take on Denmark in March, as he will with others on the fringe of his squad. But, at this moment in time, can you name many other English midfielder's who possess the same qualities that Lallana has? He is in form and playing regular football, as opposed to a certain England squad regular, James Milner...Over to you Roy!