Koeman tries to ground Saints

“Okay, the penalty makes it easier in the second half”.

Southampton did lose Schneiderlein in the off season but their aquisition of Clasie should soften the blow.

The game also saw official Southampton debuts for new signings Jordy Clasie, Maarten Stekelenburg, Juanmi and Cedric Soares, all of whom impressed Koeman.

The Saints planted one foot in the final qualification round as goals from Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Shane Long sealed a comfortable first-leg victory at St Mary’s.

The south coast side meet Koeman’s first club in management Vitesse Arnhem at St Mary’s on Thursday night in the first leg of their third round qualifier.

All in all, it was a good night’s work for Koeman’s men and the reaction of the fans and the home side’s determination to record a resounding win suggested their first European adventure for 12 years will not be a fleeting one.

“In my time, we played in front of 25,000, 26,000 people every home game and now if they play against Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord, there is 20,000 or 22,000 maximum”.

“It is a very good feeling”. “We have to wait”. “It is possible he will miss the start of the season because hamstring injuries are always risky”.

Clasie will be assessed on Friday and appears a doubt for the second leg in Arnhem – a match for which Koeman is not tempted to rest key men.

Koeman will know not to take this challenge lightly though as Vitesse will come to compete on thursday and some of the players they have Nathan, Ibarra, Osman while still young have proven their quality and will love the chance to put one over on Southampton and on Koeman who managed Vitesse way back in 2000/2001.

But Valencia departed with an apparently serious knee injury before James Collins collected a second booking in the 59th minute to become the third West Ham player to be sent off in five Europa League qualifying games.

“He needs time and he gets that time and Sunday he will start against Espanyol (in Sunday’s friendly)”.

Let’s hope these next 9 days really see United’s pre season come together and new signings & injured players join the squad to transform what has so far looked an uninspired team, with a defence in particular that is desperate for confidence and organisation.

It was 2003 when Saints last made their foray in European competition, losing to Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest in the first round of the UEFA Cup.