MARTEN DE ROON insists suffering back-to-back defeats in the Premier League is not something Middlesbrough should worry about when forwards like Romelu Lukaku are around to cause problems every week.
Lukaku, who struck an 11-minute hat-trick at the start of the week against Sunderland, claimed Everton’s third in a 3-1 victory over Boro at Goodison Park, seven days after Aitor Karanka’s top-flight new boys lost at home to Crystal Palace.
The reversals have seen Middlesbrough concede five goals in those two games – three of which arrived before half-time against Everton – to highlight the differences in the threat the Teessiders will face over the next eight months.
Frustrated: Middlesbrough's Adam Clayton appears dejected after the final whistle. Pictures: Dave Howarth/PA Wire.
Karanka’s team recorded 23 clean sheets in the Championship promotion winning campaign but have only been able to keep West Brom out from their six games so far this season, including a defeat at Fulham in the EFL Cup.
But de Roon, a £12m buy from Atalanta in the summer, believes Middlesbrough are in a different world now compared to what they encountered throughout seven years in the Football League.
The Dutch midfielder said: “It’s much more difficult to play against strikers from the Premier League than the Championship, like here we played against Lukaku and other strikers in the league we will come up against will be just as good if not better.
“You don’t face those players in the Championship. It will be more difficult to keep clean sheets and that’s normal because we are in the Premier League.
“It is a lesson but we can earn zero scorelines, the clean sheets, of course we can. We have to be compact and if we play like we did here then we will win more games than we lose.”
De Roon’s message was a positive one, suggesting Middlesbrough had been doing well until the closing stages of the first half when Seamus Coleman and Lukaku put Everton 3-1 clear after a controversial opener had been cancelled out by Gareth Barry.
“Everton made it hard for us after that and they showed their quality, they showed how much quality some teams have in the Premier League; in 10-15 minutes we lost the game,” said de Roon.
“But this was the best team we have played this season. You can dominate and play better than another team but then out of nothing they can score another and then we saw the quality of Everton after that.
“We have to analyse the games and play maybe more compact, it’s hard to say straight after a game what needs doing.
“It is always a possibility you can lose games at this level, we didn’t create too many chances. We tried to attack more in the second half but we couldn’t get it done. We just have to learn from this.”
That was the message delivered by Karanka in the dressing room afterwards, although with Tottenham on the horizon at the Riverside this Saturday the challenges will not get any easier.
De Roon said: “The manager says it is a league we can win games in when we play worse than the other team, with this spirit we can do well and we have to continue that spirit.
“Everton is a difficult team, a lot of teams will struggle to win against them. It is normal you lose games and against Everton it can happen. It is a really good thing if you can push Everton to the max and that is what we did.”
De Roon was preferred alongside Adam Forshaw in midfield ahead of Adam Clayton, who was only named on the bench for the first time since April. It was the first 90 minutes the summer recruit has got through, having suffered a hamstring problem against Stoke on the opening weekend.
He is more encouraged than frustrated after Middlesbrough’s first five games at the top level since his arrival. He said: “Losing two in a row is not the end of the world.
“It can happen more often against teams like this. Last week was disappointing against Crystal Palace especially in the second half against them.
“Everyone is disappointed that we lost but everyone should be proud of how we played and fought. We gave everything and as long as we do that then the fans will be proud of us. You can lose or win in football. We have lost two in a row but we go again on Saturday.”
Middlesbrough midfielder Adam Clayton, who needed treatment after the final whistle on the pitch, will be assessed by the medical staff today.
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