“When building a house, you don’t start up, you start at the bottom.”

Those are the words of Ronald Koeman, explaining the philosophy he has used to construct his Saints team.

Saturday’s 8-0 thrashing of Sunderland has rightly led to significant praise for the side’s attacking prowess – and they indeed boast one of the best goalscoring records in the top-flight this term.

But the famous result also represented a fourth clean sheet of the season in the Premier League, and reinforced the club’s status as the division’s best defensive side right now.

It is something Koeman is clearly proud of, and it is a record that has not come about by accident.

“To win points, to win games, it starts at the back. It starts in the defence,” said the former centre-back when discussing his approach a few weeks ago.

“That’s the reason that we bought Fraser (Forster), because he is a fantastic goalkeeper with a future in the club.

“We have a strong defence. It is all about organisation in the team and one time a week we do unit training.

“We make three groups and we have training for the defenders, for midfielders and for forwards.

“You try to put them in situations that can happen in the game and to prepare the defence, to prepare the midfield.

“That is an example of how we try to do work the whole week.

“Building a house you don’t start up, you start at the bottom. That makes winning teams.

“Jose Mourinho has shown that for a long time, in the way he is doing that. That is a big compliment for him.”

Koeman added: “I look to my team and that’s my experience. That’s the way how I try to manage my team.

“Of course, in attack, we brought in (Dusan) Tadic, (Sadio) Mane, we brought in (Graziano) Pelle – important players.

“But, even then, we brought in two centre-backs, because we need competition in other positions. That is my way of thinking.”

It has certainly paid off so far.

Forster, a £10m summer signing, has been a commanding presence in goal, and appears to be a significant upgrade in that position.

Ahead of him, there has been great encouragement too.

Ryan Bertrand, who is initially with the club on loan from Chelsea, has excelled at left-back and has helped negate the effect of Luke Shaw’s summer departure to Manchester United.

Jose Fonte continues to excel at centre half and, in on-loan Atletico Madrid defender Toby Alderweireld, Saints have a partner of significant pedigree for their team captain.

Fellow summer signing Florin Gardos, a £6m arrival from Romanian outfit Steaua Bucharest, has also looked promising when he has played, while Maya Yoshida performed well at the start of the season, and has certainly appeared more reliable than he did when called upon last season.

Nathaniel Clyne, who is one of the top three tacklers in this season’s Premier League, has been one of the division’s outstanding right-backs and, like Bertrand, combines a threat in attack with his defensive capabilities.

The protection afforded to the back-line by defensive midfielders such as Morgan Schneiderlin, Victor Wanyama and Jack Cork was vital last season and it has been so again this campaign.

While Saints do not press right up the pitch as relentlessly as they did under Mauricio Pochettino, that still represents a part of their game under Koeman, who has created a side that looks extremely balanced and who isn’t averse to making attack his best form of defence on certain occasions.

Of course, Saints have certainly not been perfect at the back, and their defensive resolve will be seriously tested when they reach the end of November and games against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United start appearing on the calendar.

Until then, we will not be able to judge them completely – but the signs from the first eight games of the season have been extremely positive.