Saints manager Ronald Koeman has spoken of how he believes that Jordy Clasie will soon adapt to the Premier League.
It is funny that how some Saints supporters have already started to pass judgement on Jordie Clasie and been very vocal on various message boards and social media sites of how the former Feyenoord player is not up to the standards of the Premier League.
How they can already be so certain of this after only three appearances in the Premier League for Clasie, totaling just under 3 hours on the pitch is a mystery, especially as it comes on the back of a lengthy two month spell on the sidelines injured.
But that is how the minds of some Saints fans work, they judge a player far too quickly and don't take extenuating circumstances into account.
Thankfully most of our supporters are far more understanding and realise that Clasie needs a little time and patience to get used to the Premier League and also to get his full match fitness back having spent so long on the sidelines.
Certainly Ronald Koeman has faith in Clasie and is prepared to give him that time.
"He’s not the physical, most strongest player and that’s the reason I change Jordy after 70 minutes because he needs to learn and to adapt to the Premier League and we give the boy that time,”
"He showed his qualities and he will learn and adapt to the intensity of the Premier League.
"He has big qualities in his ball possession.”
What Koeman is trying to do with Clasie is offer some balance in the midfield, last season with the Schneiderlin/Wanyama partnership it was very good defensively, but often a little cumbersome in possession, perhaps one of the reasons why away from home especially in the second half of the season we were not catching teams on the break.
With Clasie he has the ability to move the ball on quickly and turn defence into attack.
Before Clasie or BC as it could be dubbed, we conceded 10 goals in 8 games, an average of 1.25 per game, in the 3 games since we have conceded 3 in 3, so defensively we have improved a little, going forward we were averaging 1.62 goals scored per game BC, and now its 1.66 in his three games played, a slight improvement that could mean two more goals a season, but those goals could be vital.
That is how Saints will be looking at it, they feel that defensively Clasie could improve the side by 9 goals and attacking by 2, that could make a big difference come the end of the season.
Of course it isn't an exact science and there are other circumstances that affect the stats and of course I have only taken the most basic view, butthis is the way football science is going.
So those who have already written off Clasie as a Premier League player should take note that with him on the pitch we are already showing improvement and when he does get fully up to speed he will improve us as a side even more.