The diminutive £6.7million midfielder is desperate NOT to follow in the long line of foreign arrivals who struggle to get to grips with life in the "toughest league in the world" ... such as Albert Luque, Xisco, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Hugo Viana, etc.
They were all exception players in their own homeland, but never cut it here in England.
Pardew says "he has been thrown straight into the heat of of the Premier League battle", but wouldn't you expect a Dutch international to be a cut above the rest?
The 23-year-old has been expected to show some star quality, but he has lost his way (so far) this season.
Alan Pardew: "He's had a baptism of fire, really.
"This really was a year of coming into a good side, being in and out, getting his confidence and finding out what he would bring to the team.
"Unfortunately for him, we haven't been winning and he has been right in the thick of it almost every week, trying to understand Premier League football.
"I think (the midweek loss to) Stoke was a bit of a shock, but I honestly thought he was one of the best players on the pitch, so he is getting to grips with it.
"But it's important we get a win for people like Vurnon, who wasn't here when we were winning games on a regular basis, so it's different for him.
"We want to get a win and it will help people like Vurnon.
"He's never had the pressure and aggression that he's experienced here in any Dutch game, I promise you.
"But he can cope with it and he will get stronger as we go along.
"It's horses for courses, really. We are on a different course at the minute than we were last year.
"Tension and frustration are part of losing and we have to ease that a little bit, but we have to get the balance right and have that real desire to win.
"At the minute, we are not winning games, so we have to really focus on that.
"We are keeping our real professional heads on and trying to cover all the bases as much as we can without overloading the players."