Newcastle Utd’s Janmaat to foil old pal and Southampton boss Koeman

Koeman coached the summer signing Janmaat at Feyenoord for two years.

And the pair will be reunited when Alan Pardew’s side take on Southampton on Saturday.

Pardew - whose side are yet to win in the Premier League this season - is under intense pressure ahead of the visit to his former club.

Many fans are calling for the 53-year-old’s dismissal ahead of the game.

Southampton, meanwhile, have made a promising start to the campaign - despite losing the likes of Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw in the summer transfer window.

Janmaat - who has quickly adjusted to the pace of the Premier League - feels United can make an impression on the division this season, with European qualification the dream.

“We can do well,” Janmaat said.

“We have a good squad and we have to take each game as it comes and at the end of the season we’ll see where we end up.

“I don’t know what we can do, but I think we have to focus on every game.

“We want to play in Europe. I don’t know if it’s possible this year but we want to and we will do everything to make that happen.”

Koeman succeeded Mauricio Pochettino, now in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, at the St Mary’s Stadium.

And Janmaat feels his Dutch countryman - who famously scored the Holland goal which all but ended England’s hopes of qualifying for the 1994 World Cup - will be well-suited to English football.

“It’s nice for me to come up against him,” said the 24-year-old.

“He’s a good trainer. It’ll be nice to see him in the Premier League, and I’m looking forward to playing against him.

“I think he is going to do well at Southampton.

“It takes time, because they lost their manager and a lot of good players, and it’s not easy to win games when there’s been a lot of changes.

“I’m sure he’s going to do well because he’s a great trainer.”