David Strelec tipped as Middlesbrough’s ‘missing piece’ as Rob Edwards’ side flies to perfect start

The perfect start, and a new focal point

Four matches, four wins, one very clear storyline: Middlesbrough finally look complete. Under new head coach Rob Edwards, the Teessiders have taken 12 points from 12, beating Swansea City at home, Millwall away, Norwich City on the road, and Sheffield United by a single goal. It’s early, yes, but the pattern is hard to miss—Boro are tighter without the ball and cleaner in the final third.

The signing drawing the most attention is David Strelec. Around the Championship, coaches and analysts have circled his arrival as the moment Edwards’ attack clicked into place. Not because he’s a headline-chasing star, but because he does the simple things that make teams function: he runs channels, occupies centre-backs, links play, and gives midfielders a clear target. Middlesbrough had good wide runners and technical midfielders last season; what they lacked was a consistent penalty-box reference.

Edwards, a former Wales international defender appointed in June to replace Michael Carrick, wanted more vertical threat and a stronger press from the front. You can see the shift already. Middlesbrough’s out-of-possession shape is compact, the first line presses with control rather than chaos, and the team looks calmer when they recover the ball. With Strelec leading the line, they’re not forcing low-percentage shots—they’re working the ball into better areas.

That 3–0 at Millwall said a lot about where this is going. Middlesbrough didn’t chase the game; they managed it. A clean sheet away from home with punches landed at the right moments is classic promotion material. The narrower wins over Swansea and Sheffield United suggest another positive: Edwards’ side is comfortable playing to the score, not the crowd.

Why Strelec fits, and what it changes

Strelec’s profile makes sense for the Championship. The Slovak international came through Slovan Bratislava, has Serie A experience with Spezia, and learned the grind on loan spells where strikers live off scraps and smart movement. He isn’t a back-to-goal battering ram; he’s a mover. He drags centre-backs into places they don’t want to go, which frees space for the eights and the inverting wide players to attack the box.

This is where the jigsaw metaphor actually holds up. Middlesbrough had structure last season, but too often possession stalled 25 yards from goal. Now there’s a reference point at the top of the pitch, and the build-up has a destination. The wing-backs can hit early balls into the channels, the midfield can bounce passes forward and follow, and the back line has a safe option when pressed. It all adds up to cleaner territory gains and fewer wild turnovers.

In the early fixtures, you could spot three telltale changes when Strelec started:

• The first press looks more coordinated. He screens passes into midfield and triggers the jump at the right time, so the unit stays compact.
• Runs to the near post are purposeful, which forces defences to defend the corridor of uncertainty and opens cut-back lanes.
• Link play on the second ball is tidier—he contests, lays off, and spins, which keeps attacks alive instead of resetting backwards.

None of that guarantees goals every week, but it raises the team’s floor. With a centre-forward knitting phases together, Boro spend more time in good areas and less time chasing counters against them. That’s how four tight matches turn into four wins.

Credit, too, to the recruitment department. The Championship punishes imbalanced squads, and Boro’s last three campaigns were undone by thin margins—injuries at the wrong time, missed chances, and an overreliance on moments rather than mechanisms. This summer felt more targeted: find a striker who complements the runners, supports the press, and survives the league’s physical tempo. Strelec checks those boxes without warping the wage bill or the style.

There are caveats. The league will adjust. Opponents will sit deeper, deny space in behind, and dare Middlesbrough to build slowly. The winter schedule, with its relentless Saturday–Tuesday churn, will test depth up front. Edwards will need rotation and a Plan B—whether that’s a second striker, a more direct set-piece focus, or a switch to protect leads earlier.

Still, beating Sheffield United and winning at Norwich are real signals. Those are promotion-mix opponents, the kind you measure yourself against in August and remember in April. If Middlesbrough keep banking clean sheets and winning by a goal when the game is tight, they won’t need a dazzling attack—they’ll need reliability. Strelec’s presence nudges them toward that.

For supporters at the Riverside, the mood is different: not euphoric, just confident. That’s usually a healthier sign. Edwards has them organised, the forward line now has a focal point, and the start is perfect on paper and promising on grass. The next block of fixtures will ask new questions—how they handle low blocks, how they rotate in the cups, how the press holds up against fresher legs—but for once, the answers don’t depend on heroics. They depend on habits, and Middlesbrough finally have the right ones.