Not the first (second or third) time LFW has had Middlesbrough down as a potential title challenger, but can Kim Hellberg's team convert a big summer of transfer activity into a proper challenge? Jonny from @Boro_Breakdown gives us his thoughts...

How was the dramatic/traumatic end to last season for you?

I was looking forward to getting this season started, to be honest. That week of losing a play-off semi-final, then getting reinstated, going to a final and then losing that in the last minute was a whirlwind and rather summed up our season. We’d had the Rob Edwards situation, on-and-off transfers, then ‘spygate’, it was a very tiring and emotional season. When Oli McBurnie scored I just laughed. Such a typical Boro way of ending a season, everyone knackered, everyone done with it. It’s been nice to have a break, although England didn’t help with that.

We were the 99% men. We did so much right for long periods, both in games and across the season. You could watch us in build up, in possession and out of possession, watch us pressing teams and suffocating them, creating chances… but our strikers couldn’t score and at the other end we conceded too many of the few chances we gave away. That was the difference between Boro going up and staying in the Championship. The squad depth probably wasn’t quite there – we didn’t have runners in behind, we weren’t physical enough up top.

Boro in the league so far…
Boro 2-1 Lincoln Lankshear 62, 90 – Reach 12
Blackburn 2-1 Boro Gudjohnsen 49, Cantwell 55 – Sarmiento 12
Boro 3-1 West Brom Lankshear 48, 73, Jones 87 – Morgan 65
Burnley 1-1 Boro Raghouber 54 – Morris 23

Kim Hellberg?

He has a lot of credit in the bank from last season. He’s a gem. His principles, ways of playing, how his players rotate around the pitch and how it all comes together I just love it. It would take a lot for me to go this probably isn’t working any more. I think he’s pivotal to our success this year.

A very busy transfer window for Boro, what did you make of it?

It’s been really positive. Boro have brought in players that upgrade all aspects of the pitch. In defence we’ve added big, tall, athletic players and we’ve added similar athleticism right across the pitch. We’re looking to press more out of possession but also run in behind a little bit more. Additionally we’re getting better at set pieces with Seb Barhalter coming in. Vitek in goal was a big upgrade on Sol Brynn from last year. And it’s all been funded by players sales (Hayden Hackney, Morgan Whittaker) and the sell on we got from Morgan Rogers. It’s a shame to lose Whittaker but it felt like the deal was right and he’d never particularly gelled with Boro fans after his infamously slow start to life here. Overall, really good business. Really pleased. All aspects of our game have improved and I’m excited to see how it all comes together as the season progresses.

Ins >>> Will Lankshear, 21, CF, Spurs, £10m >>> Ashley Phillips, 21, CB, Spurs, £8m >>> Radek Vitek, 22, GK, Man Utd, £8m >>> Max Arfsten, 25, LW, Columbus, £5m >>> Rokas Pukstas, 22, AM, Hadjuk Split, £4.5m >>> Kyle Joseph, 24, RW, Hull, £4m >>> Jeremy Sarmiento, 24, LW, Brighton, £3m >>> Sebastien Berhalter, 25, CM, Vancouver, £1m >>> Myles Peart-Harris, 23, AM, Oxford, Free >>> Sam Byram, 32, RB, Leeds, Free >>> Amario Cozier-Duberry, 21, RW, Brighton, Loan >>> Connor Barron, 24, DM, Rangers, Loan

Outs >>> Hayden Hackney, 24, CM, Everton, £18m >>> Morgan Whittaker, AM, 25, Colombus Crew, £8m >>> Abdoulaye Kante, 21, DM, Al-Ettifaq, £4m >>> Kaly Sene, 25, CF, Young Boys, £1m >>> Dael Fry, 28, CB, Birmingham, Free >>> Dan Barlaser, 29, CM, MK Dons, Free >>> Marcus Forss, 27, CF, Released >>> Sam Silvera, 25, LW, MK Dons, Free >>> Seny Dieng, 31, GK, Atromitos (Cyprus, thank you Tim for leaving me with my favourite food), Free >>> Alex Gilbert, 25, AM, Released >>> Darragh Lenihan, 32, CB, Released >>> Delano Burgzorg, 27, LW, Preston, Loan >>> Finley Munroe, 21, LB, Blackpool, Loan >>> Sontje Hansen, 24, RW, Gaziantep (Turkey), Loan

Where is the team strong and where is it weak?

We’re strong in possession. Arguably the best ball retention team in the league due to firstly good technical players, secondly the rotations they make and finally the off the ball movements that happen all the time and allow us to create angles and find the next best pass. Crucially we’re also now starting to score the chances we create – Will Lankshear is absolurely flying. I still think there is more to do there. Out of possession we’re relatively okay, we do the ‘win the ball back in six seconds’ thing quite well, but when we don’t my God there are some big spaces there that teams can occupy. We’ve found in the last few games that in transition we’re quite poor and there are big, big spaces out wide – when we lose the ball you’ll see a forward peel off into those spaces, get their team up the pitch and put a ball in the box when we’re unsettled. I think we’ve improved across the board but still work to do.

How do you see this season going?

My expectations haven’t changed really having seen us play a few games, I still think around fourth/fifth is where we’re going to end up. There are a lot of teams similar to ourselves that will click into gear. We have a great squad and has a much higher ceiling than last year but I think the difference this year is a much stronger division therefore I think we’ll land about fourth or fifth.

Links >>> Middlesbrough Official Website >>> Teeside Gazette — Local Paper >>> FMTTM — Message Board >>> Boro Breakdown – Podcast >>> One Boro — Forum >>> Bonkers for Boro — Blog >>> Boropolis — Podcast

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