LA Galaxy
Conference: West Position: 3rd
W-L-D: 2-1-2 (0 points, -1 goal differential)
Away Form: 1-1-1 (-2 goal differential)
Recent Form: DWLDW
Last Meeting: Toronto FC 0 – LA Galaxy 0 (June 26, 2010)

The big boys are coming to town. Toronto FC will play their first midweek game of the season against LA Galaxy at BMO Field. Try to spot all of the stars in the Galaxy. Look! There’s Beckham! And Donovan! Is that Angel! Oh look, the Rooney look-a-like that used to play for TFC! Currently, LA sit 3rd in the Western conference with 8 points from 5 games, while TFC are 4th in the East with 5 points from 4 games. This game will be the toughest challenge for the Reds yet. Will they be able to handle Los Galacticos?

LA Galaxy are another one of the original teams that have been in Major League Soccer since the opening season in 1996. They even made it all the way to the MLS Cup final in that first season. In their whole history, the Galaxy have won the Western Conference a total of seven times, more than any other team. They have three Supporters’ Shields under their belts and have won the MLS Cup twice while coming runners-up four times on top of that. Needless to say, they are winners, and they are certainly one of the top teams in the league still. Last season they were expected to make it all the way to the MLS Cup final after topping the Western Conference with the likes of English soccer star, David Beckham, and MLS All-Star, America’s own, Landon Donovan. It didn’t end up being their year as FC Dallas pulled off the upset in the Conference Final by beating LA 3-0 at the Home Depot Centre.

Last season, TFC had both Galaxy games early in the season, so it’s been a while since the two sides have met. LA’s last visit to BMO was all the way back in June of last year where the two sides played out a nil-nil draw. The stadium was pretty bare that day due to all of the chaos surrounding the G20 summit at the time. Beckham was nowhere to be seen, yet again, though he looks set to come to Canada on this year’s trip. Going into this season, there are high expectations for LA as ever. Beckham and Donovan are still with the club. Donovan has been struggling with fitness/tiredness, but it sounds like he will be fit and and ready for Wednesday’s game. Beckham looks like he will be playing as well and his presence is sure to cause us problems out wide and on set pieces, which are his specialty. He already has three assists this season. Even with those two players, the Galaxy still went and brought in another big name during the preseason: Juan Pablo Angel. He is one of the most consistent goalscorers in the league with 58 goals in 102 appearances for New York Red Bulls. If they can’t score on our leaky defense, I’ll be shocked.

In goal, LA have 2010 Goalkeeper of the Year, Donovan Ricketts, who is just the kind of crazy that I like to see in a keeper. They have solid defensive players as well in A.J. DeLaGarza and Omar Gonzalez. American fullback Todd Dunivant should also be starting on Wednesday. The Galaxy have played one more game than TFC but have conceded the same number of goals, though one was a controversial penalty against DC United over the weekend. I still think their defense will be tougher to crack than the ones we have played so far, but we have not been shy in attack and seem to have a few goals in us ourselves. With the TFC defense being so full of holes and LA having so many attacking options, we will really need to score at least a couple in this match if we are going to come away with anything.

LA Galaxy’s midfield and attack is a strong one with Landycakes and Becks, but there are other threats. Juninho was brought in on the offseason on loan from São Paulo and already has two goals to his name this season. Mike Magee scored his first goal last week against DC United off of a Beckham corner and is usually lively out on the left wing. Chris Birchall would normally get the start in midfield, but he picked up a straight red two weeks ago and I believe is still suspended for the TFC match. And how could I forget, the former TFC striker you either loved or hated, Chad Barrett. I’ll go on the record as being a pro-Chad girl myself while acknowledging he had his faults and was definitely being overpaid by TFC. He hasn’t scored yet for the Galaxy, but hey, when has that ever stopped an ex-player before? My guess is he will come back and score a hattrick because that’s how the universe likes to mess with Toronto FC.

Moving along, Toronto FC are currently on a three game unbeaten streak. Sure, there’s only one win in there, but it also means that Vancouver is still our only loss so far this season. We saw some glimpses of great play in our last game against San Jose, but our glaring defensive weaknesses were on show as well. Most of our players will be available so let’s see how wrong I can get the lineup this week:

Frei

Our attack seems to pretty much pick itself these days. I expect a front line of Martina, Gordon, and Stevanovic with Maicon in the hole. Gordon has scored in his last two outings and it would be nice to see him start a little streak. We did get Gordon when we traded Barrett to LA, so a goal against his former team would be quite fitting, don’t you think? Peterson has been doing well lately so we should see him with Tchani solidify the midfield. Frei is a no-brainer in goal, but choosing our backline is the trickiest part. We don’t seem to have settled on a back four, or at least one that’s played a really great game. Cann seems likeliest to be at centreback, but will it be Harden or Nana next to him? Nana’s been subbed off at halftime two games in a row now. That can’t be good news for him. Maybe he will start there again and eventually be subbed off, but I feel like Winter might just start with Harden. He’s put Harden at rightback a couple of times now, but I’m just go on a limb and predict that he will have Borman and Yourassowsky starting in the fullback positions. Actually, I was a bit surprised that Yourassowsky didn’t start the last game against the Earthquakes because I thought he generally looked good against Portland. Was this Winter’s way of sending him a message to keep his discipline in check, or did Winter just want to try something a bit different? I can’t say for certain, but I think we’ll see the comically-named leftback start on Wednesday.

As I mentioned before, this will be our toughest test so far this season, and that could be an understatement. LA Galaxy won the Supporters’ Shield last year, which means they finished top of the overall league table, not just their conference. They have big players and they want to go out and win every game. There aren’t many teams better than them in MLS (I’d say Real Salt Lake are the ones everyone should be terrified of), so we can’t make these silly individual errors or leave strikers in an acre of space in our third of the pitch. The Galaxy are exactly the type of team that can punish you for stuff like that. Toronto FC just played in San Jose on Saturday, will face the Galaxy on Wednesday, and then host DC United on this coming Saturday. It’s a jam-packed week and we have to step up our game if we are going to get any points against LA. Can TFC rise to the challenge against the stars of the Galaxy? Can our defense go 90 minutes without giving the fans collective heart failure? Will David Beckham finally get his butt to Toronto? Will Victoria be with him? And can she give me some style tips? All these questions will be answered soon enough so be sure to watch!

Toronto FC v LA Galaxy will be broadcast on GOL TV Canada Live at 8:0pm ET

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And there it is. It finally happened. After much frustration from DeRo about his treatment from the club and his very public airing of that frustration, it seems we have reached the end of the tether. Dwayne De Rosario has officially joined New York Red Bulls in exchange for Tony Tchani, Danleigh Borman and a First Round pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft.

I can’t say I’m surprised by the move, but hearing the news today was certainly a shock. I had heard some rumblings a couple of weeks ago about some teams being in for DeRo, but I immediately forgot about it until today. I really didn’t expect to hear about DeRo transferring to New York on the eve of a match day, and on April Fools Day no less! Still, we all knew he wasn’t happy. He had been made promises that were not kept and he felt he deserved more. So off he goes to NYRB, who, at a glance, must look the favourites to get to the MLS Cup final in 2011. DeRo will play with the likes of Thierry Henry now and with more money in his pocket, I’m assuming. In return TFC free up some cap space by losing their best player while bringing in some fresh talent. It looks to be a good move for everyone involved. And yet, I can’t help but feel saddened thinking of what could have been for DeRo at TFC.

Remember that when DeRo was signed, it was a huge deal. DeRo is one of the best players in MLS history and we managed to get the Scarborough native to come back home and play for Toronto. He had won 2 MLS Cups with San Jose Earthquakes and 2 MLS Cups with Houston Dynamo. He is the only MLS player ever to be named the MLS Cup MVP more than once (in 2001 and 2007). In short, this was a massive signing of a high-profile player who had proven himself a winner in MLS. And he was ours. A Canadian. And we got him.

His two seasons with Toronto FC could be called his greatest on a personal level. He scored 15 goals in the league last season, which was his highest tally ever in a season. In total, he scored 32 goals in 75 appearances, making him Toronto FC’s top scorer of all time. In 2009, he scored a hattrick in the “Miracle in Montreal” to lead us to our first Nutrilite Canadian Championship trophy and he led us to win the trophy again the next year. In short, he was the best player TFC have ever had and he always gave his all on the pitch. Unfortunately, his own success on the pitch did not translate to success for the club and for the first time in his career he did not make the playoffs in 2009 and 2010. The club had brought a great player, but did not surround him with similar talent.

DeRo never made things easy for himself off the pitch. He talked openly about not being given what he was promised by the management; this being what we all assume is status as a Designated Player along with a hefty pay package. With the chaos that was the TFC Front Office headed by Mo Johnston, DeRo grew increasingly frustrated with the management and their unwillingness to give him what he felt he was worth and what he felt he was due after being underpaid for much of his time in MLS after achieving so much. Then came that moment when TFC did sign a DP, only it was not DeRo, but Canadian international, Julian de Guzman. This did not sit well with De Ro and he became even more public about his unhappiness at not being paid more than someone who he felt did not contribute as much to the team as he did. He made some bad decisions like the “cheque-signing celebration” during a critical game in our 2010 season. During the offseason, there was the confusing situation of him “training” with Celtic and perhaps angling for a move overseas. It was not particularly captain-like behaviour and there was also a sense that there may be some tension in the dressing room. Things just didn’t seem to be getting any better and he was stuck in what seemed like endless contract negotiations with TFC that continued under the new management of Winter and Mariner.

Fast forward until today and now we see things a little bit clearer. Winter obviously feels confident enough in moving ahead without DeRo and perhaps he and Mariner did not see the benefit of signing him as a DP. DeRo will do well with the Red Bulls and TFC will move forward under Winter and his new style and emphasis on youth. It’s just that I can’t help but feel sad about this whole thing. DeRo could really have been a legend at this club, but because of unfortunate circumstances, idiotic management, egos clashing, and constant shape-shifting of our beloved team, he may end up being seen as just a mercenary who scored a few goals during a tumultuous period in Reds’ history. It just doesn’t seem right. I’ve gotten fed up with DeRo as much as the next fan. I even felt he should not be captain. However, I do appreciate his talent and how much he gave on the pitch. He was a winner, and still is. He wanted to win, and I’m sure it hurt him as much as it did all of us when TFC kept failing to make the playoffs. Rarely in life are things black and white. Most of the time there is a ton of grey in the middle. There are many things DeRo could have handled better, especially off the pitch. I do think that a lot of fault can be laid at the feet of Mo Johnston and his totally inept management that turned our club into a shambles and a laughingstock. If we had a proper team and a proper manager, I think DeRo could have been an important player on a successful TFC team. Instead, we have to say goodbye now with a bitterness left on both sides.

In the bigger scheme of things, this is a positive move, not only for DeRo, but for Toronto FC. DeRo has a chance at making some more money and achieving something great with a team that has high ambitions. Toronto FC have a new outlook on life under Aron Winter. His focus on youth meant that DeRo perhaps was not the best fit to the team anyway, being on the wrong side of 30. Now we bring in a bright young talent in midfielder Toni Tchani and some defensive depth in Danleigh Borman. Winter is building a squad. A proper squad. He is also encouraging our Academy products and trying to instill a sense of identity and purpose into our club. Maybe we needed to get rid of DeRo as that part of the last era that was filled with so much disappointment. It is a chance to reboot without the drama. That can only be a good thing. So on that note, I’d like to say thank you to Dwayne De Rosario for his time at the club, his performances on the pitch, and his many goals. It could have been different; it should have been different. I hope we can all recognize what he brought to the club and what he contributed rather than focus on the off-the-pitch unpleasantness. And, as with all things, I couldn’t end this post without saying one more time: when in doubt, blame Mo. Best wishes, DeRo. Roll on, TFC!

Check out this gesture from De Ro after his last official game with TFC by honouring a member of the Red Patch Boys who tragically died.

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I am not sure that our new signings will be ready to play tomorrow, but one player we will be seeing on the bench is Julian de Guzman. Winter announced today that he will be fit enough to be included with the squad. Perhaps Julian had a visit with the placenta lady, because I have no idea how he went from being fit in mid April to being fit enough to maybe play tomorrow.

Also, Javier Martina’s second goal against Portland has won MLS Goal of the Week. Go back and watch it like I did. Over and over and over and over again!

Remember to check out the TFC-Chivas Match Preview before tomorrow’s game. Come on you Reds!

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Don’t forget to follow Toronto FC Offside on Twitter for the latest news, links, and updates: www.twitter.com/TFCOffside

TFC Starting XI: Stefan Frei, Ty Harden (Dan Gargan 46′), Nana Attakora (Ashtone Morgan 46’), Dicoy Williams, Mikael Yourassowsky, Nick LaBrocca (Matt Gold 58′), Oscar Cordon (Andrew Ornoch 63′), Nathan Sturgis, Jacob Peterson, Javier Martina, Keith Makubuya (Nick Soolsma 70′)

I didn’t get to watch this game, and apparently I didn’t miss much. It was cold, wet, rainy, and the football was terrible. Not only that, but we ended up losing to Charleston Battery who aren’t even an MLS side. They scored twice: one goal before halftime and one off of a rebound in the 57th minute. Our only goal came from a penalty. Petersen crossed a ball into the penalty area and one of the Charleston players handballed to concede the penalty. Sturgis stepped up to give us the 1-0 lead, which of course, didn’t last too long. All in all, it didn’t sound good and those familiar sinking feelings at the pit of my stomach began to emerge again as they tend to do in preseasons. My co-blogger over at Arsenal Offside is a lawyer and actually is from Charleston. He said that his alma mater has taken a few scalps in preseason games before so I shouldn’t feel too bad, plus it still is only preseason. It’s the league that counts. So we could lose every game up until First Kick and it wouldn’t mean diddly-squat. That made me feel a bit better.

Last night TFC faced DC United for their last game in the Carolina Challenge Cup:

TFC Starting XI: Stefan Frei, Dan Gargan, Nana Attakora, Ty Harden, Mikael Yourassowsky (Ejected 37′), Nathan Sturgis, Oscar Cordon (Adrian Cann 46′), Dwayne De Rosario (Javier Martina 87′), Gianluca Zavarise (Keith Makubuya 90+’), Jacob Peterson (Matt Stinson 80′), Maicon Santos (Matt Gold 67′)

You’ll notice that Winter has been doing less experimenting now and our starting eleven is slowly beginning to emerge. On the other side of the pitch, there were some familiar faces lining up for DC United, namely Dejan Jakovic and Pat Onstad. That’s right. Pat Onstad. The ever-present Canadian goalkeeper who will live forever. I didn’t like that the two of them played so well against us. Guys, we’re all Canadian here, why don’t you take it a little easy? What’s up with the whole ‘trying to win for the team you play for’ stuff? I’m very disappointed in you both tsk tsk.

DC United ended up taking the lead early with a great strike from Charlie Davies. It was really end-to-end stuff in the first 20 or so minutes. DeRo was looking good and constantly harrying defenders. In the 19th minute he got the equalizer for us when DC gave up a penalty after Maicon was taken down in the box. DeRo stepped up to coolly put the ball in the back of the net. Amazingly, we scored again to put ourselves ahead 2-1 when Frei thumped the ball up to Maicon who took it down well and smashed it past Onstad. I wonder what Winter thinks of the fact that we went all old-school long ball for that goal? We may have betrayed his style to grab the goal, but overall the team performance looked a lot more promising than in other recent games. Of course, as soon as things look a little bit positive for TFC, something has to go wrong. Yourassowsky, who has featured quite heavily in preseason and is expected to sign with the club soon, picked up two yellow cards in the space of about a minute to get sent off. It really was a stupid thing to do, especially the fact that the two yellows came so close together in the match. We really need to avoid stuff like that when the season starts. Last season, Preki had us going gung-ho into tackles and really getting into opponents faces. That’s all well and good up to a point, but our problem was picking up way too many yellows and red cards and having many of our players missing on suspension during key matches. MLS rosters tend not to be too deep, so it’s important that we keep some discipline when we step out onto the pitch.

With one of our guys off the pitch, you bet Your Assowsky we were down to 10 men from the 37th minute onward. For the most part we coped pretty well considering we had to change our whole shape. Unfortunately, DC were able to make the score 2-2 with 61st minute strike from Joseph Ngwenya. So we nicked a draw after being down to 10 men against DC United. Not too bad. There were definite signs of improvement and you get the sense the team just needs to keep playing together to get some consistency. Some good news: Adrian Cann made a 2nd half appearance at leftback. After the match he made a classy apology to all of the fans with Winter standing next to him.

It’s never easy to swallow your pride and admit you were wrong like that so I have to give credit to Adrian and hope that he and Winter can start patching things up and moving on. So that was the good news. Bad news is that Maicon went off injured in the 2nd half. I like Maicon, but the guy seems to have a bit of trouble keeping fit. I don’t know his entire history with injuries, but he did miss a lot of games last season due to injury. Luckily, we brought in Alan Gordon who has experience leading the line, and DeRo can also slot in as a striker if it’s really necessary. It would be nice to see another striker signed though because you get the feeling that we are still lacking in that department.

We made it through the preseason without wanting to slit our wrists and we have actual players signed up that can actually play when the league starts on Saturday, so there’s some positives right there. TFC played 9 games in the preseason and came out with a 2-5-2 record. Not great, but not catastrophic. We managed to score some goals too; 9 in total. A big problem is our defense, which conceded a total of 13 goals. We started a bit rough in our style of play but we are slowly getting better. Don’t expect huge things right away though. It is going to be incredibly difficult for us, especially at the beginning of the season. It’s basically another rebuilding year, but this time we have good management and a concrete plan. Winter and de Klerk have a vision of how they want us to play and they know what they are looking for. They are nurturing our young players and are keen on bringing through players from the academy who can play in the same style as the first team. Mariner is on board and can supply our Dutch duo with all of his knowledge and experience of MLS to make the transition easier. We’ll be taking baby steps and it will be a bumpy ride, but honestly, don’t you like this new setup more than the old one? Everything just feels a lot less chaotic and a lot more positive. You can see it in the players who seem enthusiastic about their football. We, as fans, need to be patient and give the team some time. At least we will be able to see some attacking play instead of some of the dire defensive displays we have seen previously. Just keep all of this in mind when we are a couple months in and we are still struggling to stay in playoff contention. I think we can make the playoffs, but it will probably be only just.

MLS 2011 season begins on Tuesday with Seattle Sounders hosting LA Galaxy at 9:30pm ET. TFC’s season begins on Saturday, March 19, 2011 when the Reds go marching into Vancouver for the season opener. I will have a full preview of the big “TransCanada Derby” later in the week, so keep your eyes peeled. Taking a look at our first few games, here’s what our first few weeks will look like in the league:

Mar 19 @ Vancouver Whitecaps
Mar 26 v Portland Timbers
Apr 2 v Chivas USA
Apr 9 @ San Jose Earthquakes
Apr 13 v Los Angeles Galaxy
Apr 16 v DC United

Some tricky fixtures in there. First thing you notice is that we open the season away to an expansion team and then playing another expansion team for our home opener. You don’t really know what to expect with teams new to the league. On the one hand, they could come out revved up and on fire, starting the season strong with enthusiastic play and trying to show everyone that they will make their mark on the league. On the other hand, they could struggle at the higher level and we could get some easy points early in the season. We’ll see soon what it ends up being.

Out of our first 6 games listed, 4 of them are at BMO Field. We really have to take advantage of this since TFC has historically been poor on the road and it is very difficult to get away results in MLS in general. If we have bad home form, just forget about the playoffs. Hosting the Galaxy will by far be the toughest out of those first 6 games, but we could really get some good results from the others. Besides Vancouver, our only other away game in that list is San Jose, who did quite well in the second half of the 2010 season and were close to making the MLS Cup final. On the whole, it is a very decent opening group of fixtures. It would be great if we took the opportunity to start our season strong in case of a summer lapse that tends to hit us, particularly with the Gold Cup coming in June.

The players that have featured in the last couple games I talked about in this post are likely to start on Saturday. Julian is making good progress coming back from injury, but he will not be available for another couple of weeks. Hopefully he will be back sooner rather than later because I think he will end up being quite important to our side. Expect Yourassowsky to be signed and in the starting lineup as well and we should also see many familiar faces such as our Captain, Attakora, and our magnificent rock in goal, Stefan Frei.

That was a bit of a glimpse of what to expect in the coming weeks. In other news, it seems that The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is looking to sell its 66% of shares in MLSE. Rumours a few months ago were that Rogers being interested, but nothing is known for sure. For more information on this, check out this article from Canadian Soccer News.

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IN:

Nathan Sturgis – 23 year old American midfielder. Was with the Sounders last season playing often in a defensive role. Good for dead ball situations.
Nick Soolsma – 23 year old Dutch forward signed from VV Young Boys where he scored 6 goals in 11 appearances.
Javier Martina – 24 year old Dutch forward who came through the ranks of the Ajax Youth Academy under Winter and de Klerk. Spent time on loan last year with HFC Haarlem. Has impressed in preseason with his quick direct play down the wings and deliveries into the box.
Elbekay Bouchiba – 32 year old Dutch midfielder who spent a large chunk of his career in the Dutch Eredivise before spending the last couple of years in Qatar with the club Al-Wakrah
Gianluca Zavarise – 24 year old Canadian midfielder. Has been on trial with the club during the preseason. Has now been signed from Iraklis FC of the Greek Super League.
Alan Gordon – 29 year old Striker known by Toronto fans as the guy who broke Adrian Cann’s nose last season. Traded from Chivas for Nick Labrocca. 16 goals, 12 assists in 99 apps for LA Galaxy. Can be used as an effective target man.

OUT:

O’Brian White – Traded to Vancouver likely because of his high salary and complete inability to score goals as a striker.
Joseph Nane – Traded to Columbus. Had his chances last season under Preki, but never really impressed.
Gabe Gala – Released. The man who scored that one precious goal for TFC in that friendly with Real Madrid.
Martin Saric – Released. Always tried out on the pitch, but the guy was a walking red card at times. A real Preki-type player.
Maxim Usanov - Released. Featured a lot last season, but nothing special.
Raivis Hscanovics – Released, presumably for lack of vowels.
Mista - Worst DP signing ever? I think he scored once for us in the CCL but ended up being ineffective or injured the rest of the time. Said some very nice things about Toronto in a recent Spanish interview.
Nick Garcia – Option declined. Did better in 2009 than in 2010, but supporters really couldn’t forget 2009 and the fact that he was brought in through a Mo connection. He provided experience and was a good dressing room influence from what I hear. Biggest problem was that he cost way too much under the salary cap.
Fuad Ibrahim – Option declined. Never showed enough beyond promise.
Amadou Sanyang – Option declined. Another player that got a lot of playing time under Preki. Technical skill underwhelming.
Chad Barrett – Traded to LA Galaxy much to my chagrin. Perhaps he wasn’t best suited to the new system that TFC will be employing this season. Getting rid of him freed up a lot of cap space.
Emmanuel Gomez – Waived. Ben Knight seemed to like him.
Nick Labrocca – Traded to Chivas USA. A bit surprising as he seemed to be doing well in preseason and was generally a good team player. I guess Winter just didn’t know how to fit him into his new side or didn’t see enough in him to keep him around.

DRAFTED:

Demitrius Omphroy – 21 year old defender; Just picked up a knock in training but nothing serious; SuperDraft Pick #26
Matt Gold – 22 year old Midfielder; Might be on the outs; SuperDraft Pick #43
Joao Plata – 18 year old Forward; Played a couple of games but might be too lightweight for MLS; SuperDraft Pick #49
J.C. Banks – 21 year old Midfielder; Supplemental Draft Pick #8 (status unknown)
Spencer Thompson – 22 year old Midfielder; Supplemental Draft Pick #26 (status unknown)
Scott Rojo – 21 year old Midfielder; Supplemental Draft Pick#44 (status unknown)

These are players who were chosen in a draft this year but have not yet signed a contract with the club.

TRIALISTS:

Mikael Yourassowsky – 28 year old Defender; has played a ton in preseason and very likely to join the club
Andrew Ornoch – 25 year old Midfielder
Dicoy Williams – 24 year old Defender
Ivo de Heus – 22 year old Midfielder
Jamal Gay – 22 year old Forward
Joevin Jones – 19 year old Defender

Players who are currently on trial with TFC. Could either be offered a contract or be released.

ACADEMY PLAYERS:

Matt Stinson – 18 year old Midfielder
Oscar Cordon – 18 year old Midfielder
Keith Makubuya – 18 year old Forward
Kevin Aleman – 17 year old Midfielder
Ashtone Morgan – 20 year old Defender

These are all players from the TFC Academy (who have spent time training with squad during preseason)

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Right now, this is who we have available in the squad:

Goalkeepers: Stefan Frei, Milos Kocic

Defenders: Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann, Dan Gargan, Ty Harden, Doneil Henry

Midfielders: Julian deGuzman, Dwayne DeRosario, Nicolas Lindsay, Jacob Petersen, Nathan Sturgis, Elbekay Bouchiba

Forwards: Maicon Santos, Nick Soolsma, Javier Martina, Alan Gordon

There are still probably a few more players to come in soon, but this is the core squad we have at the moment. Add to that our Academy players and it doesn’t look too bad. DeRo seems to be content with the situation and by all accounts is ironing out the details on his contract (thank god). Winter sees him as an important part of the team and understands his role and significance, so I think any discontent has currently been muted. Cann has caved and come back to TFC. Winter says that he would like an apology for his behaviour, which I think is fair enough, especially considering Cann didn’t even get the raise he wanted. (How great is it to see some assertiveness from the management without them being total douchebags? Refreshing.) The fact is that Mo probably promised him something that hasn’t been delivered now that he’s gone. He’s done it before with other players and it’s always been a headache. Mo really is the gift that keeps on giving, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see one or two more contract disputes from some of those signed under his reign. Nana is also in contract negotiations. It seems he wants to wait until he sees how the new management team pans out and whether TFC makes any progress before committing his future to the team. Fair enough. TFC can be a real circus at times so I can’t really blame him for showing a bit of reluctance. Hopefully, the season will go well enough that he sticks around for a few more seasons.

There’s a decent crop of players there to choose from, even if we are currently lacking a bit of depth. Here’s a possible starting XI from the players available:

Frei

I should add a couple of caveats. Number one: This is not necessarily the team that will start against Vancouver. This is just me trying to see what our possible team would look like. Number two: we have some guys injured that may not feature right away and we might be bringing in more. I think this lineup gives us a good sense of what we can expect right now for the Vancouver game (except for injured players). It looks decent with a bit of pace on the wings. Maicon is strong as a frontman. DeRo still looks sharp even after all these years. Petersen has looked good ever since Preki lift. Not bad. If they can gel there is definite potential that can only get better with some smart additions. What do you think?

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On Thursday, TFC faced Charlston College in a friendly game before the tournament. Our side featured a lot of young players and academy products:

Toronto FC: David Monsalve (Stefan Frei ’60), Demitrius Omphroy, Ivo de Heus, Ty Harden (Elbekay Bouchiba 30’ Mikael Yourassowsky 60’), Mikael Yourassowsky (Ashtone Morgan 30’), Elbekay Bouchiba (Oscar Cordon 30’), Nick La Brocca (Nathan Sturgis 60’), Gianluca Zavarise (Keven Aleman 30’), Jacob Peterson (Nick Soolsman 30’ Javier Martina 60’), Maicon Santos (Andrew Ornoch 60’), Dwayne De Rosario (Joao Plata 30’ Keith Makubuya 60’).

Plata was fouled in the box in the 40th minute and got a penalty which he scored to make it 1-0. Charleston also had a penalty awarded to them in the second half, but the shot went over the bar. The game ended 1-0 to TFC. It’s nice to have won a game again, even if it was a college team. Winter seemed pleased with the performance overall and probably used the game as a chance to see the potential in youth players as well as give the trialists another useful runout.
It’s good to see Nathan Sturgis in there. I almost forgot about him during the preseason, but he was also dealing with an injury if I’m not mistaken. Julian deGuzman has also resumed training with the team, which is great news and hopefully we will have him fit for the beginning of the season.

On Saturday, The Reds faced Chicago Fire in the first game of the Challenge Cup.

Toronto FC: Toronto FC (4-3-3) Frei, Gargan, Attakora, Yourassowsky (Stinson 87’), Morgan (Ornoch 46’), LaBrocca (Makubuya 69’), Cordon, Peterson (Sturgis 79’), Martina (Zavarise 84’), Maicon, Plata (Soolsma 46’)

The Fire went up 1-0 within six minutes after some dreadful defending by our backline. The ball was knocked straight across the goal mouth a little too easily. Davis Paul cut it back to Marco Pappa who found the target and put Chicago ahead. In the 35th minute, Logan Pause was shown a red card after a foul on TFC Academy player Oscar Cordon. That put Chicago down to 10 men for the rest of the match. After the sending off we were able to enjoy a bit more possession and have a couple of decent efforts on goal.
In the second half, we were able to keep possession again, but what was lacking most was our fluidity in midfield and attacking threat. Fire were happy for us to knock the ball around in our own half, but they were strong in shutting us down when we tried penetrating their defense. Right now, a lot of our passes seem to be just a little too heavy or a little too light, but with time that should improve. The players need to be more aware of what is around them and not allow themselves to get dispossessed so easily.

Chicago were able to create some very good chances on the break. I’ve said it before, but we really need to be careful getting exposed on the counter because that seems to be an issue from the games I’ve seen so far. At times we looked like the team with 10 men and really, being a man up we should have done better. Another big issue is that we lack a lethal goal poacher. We don’t currently have someone who will bring home the goals for us. Maicon should be able to chip in, but he is better suited to holding up the ball and will also be useful for set pieces. Many times our wingers would put some really great balls into the penalty box (an area that seems to be much improved from previous seasons) but no one would be there on the end of it throwing themselves at the ball to stick it in the net. We need someone who will be there to capitalize on those opportunities.

Towards the end of the match, Maicon had a great freekick on target, but the shot was parried away by the goalkeeper. I hope he can replicate that during the season because it was a great freekick and gives us another option besides DeRo. It wasn’t a great spectacle as a match. The camerawork was terrible, the commentators said that we were watching the “cream of the crop” in North American soccer (how long has that cream been sitting in the fridge?), but my favourite part was seeing the “Five Guys Burgers and Fries” advertising board. You know it’s a bad match when the highlight is getting a chuckle out of something you read in front of the half-empty bleachers. The game ended 1-0 to Chicago Fire. At least we’re losing all of our games now and not during the actual season (I hope). Next game is against Charleston Battery on Wednesday.

The motto amongst the players and staff seems to be ‘it’s only preseason and results don’t matter’. You may not like to hear it, but it’s true. The most important thing is that the players continue to work with each other and improve their understanding on the pitch. Winter, de Klerk, and Mariner all seem to be positive in general about how things are going, even if it hasn’t been pretty. I could go on, but I’d just be regurgitating a lot of what I’ve already said over and over. Patience is a virtue.

The thing that is worrying me more than the messy play on the pitch is our current roster. We need to sign some players. If my math is correct, we have 14 signed players, one of whom (Nicolas Lindsay) is injured for the season. We have been using several Academy players during preseason, which is good, and they should be able to play in the Canadian Championship games. I’m sure there are plans to sign up a couple of the trialists. Martina has been the most impressive one for me. He’s got some pace down the wings and can cross a good ball. Ornoch looked decent in the air. Omphroy has looked solid on his outings. Yourassowsky has played a lot of minutes, so he might be on the manager’s mind (though he has been prone to a slip up here and there. Chalk it up to inexperience). As I mentioned before, we lack that strong, dynamic centreforward that can bring us goals. With Cann still in contract disputes with the management, we are also lacking a big presence in our backline. I’m not sure what Cann was promised by the Mo Regime, but he is obviously dissatisfied with his current contract for some reason. Winter has expressed his displeasure at the whole situation:

“I explained to him the situation and gave him two good (contract) options to stay. I still think he’s a good defender, but what he has done is not good.

“He went away against our wishes. Last season he signed a new contract and we knew he was unhappy so we offered him a contract with two good options. And we’ve given him a lot of time to think about it. He can come back under his old (contract) conditions. But when you let your team down by leaving, when you come back, everything won’t be the same.”

Apparently, Winter talked to Cann on numerous occasions and offered more money, which Cann turned down. This whole thing is very unfortunate and extremely ill-timed. I don’t know the Cann’s side of the story, but I am just scratching my head as to why he is doing this now. If he is going to walk out on us right now and hold us to ransom, then it’s best we go get ourselves another starting CB pronto. Otherwise, someone is going to have to swallow their pride here. Winter will let him come back, but you would have to think that relations have soured between them. Hopefully we will get some better news and updates on this situation sometime this week.

There are less than 2 weeks until First Kick. Our squad is a bit bare, but we have some strong players like DeRo, deGuzman, Frei, Gargan, Attakora, Sturgis, Petersen, and Maicon who could make up our starting XI. A few strong additions would be great for this team. In the meantime, we’ve got a lot of work to do before we face the Whitecaps.

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Usually I’m hoping for news about TFC anytime. Such is my luck that it ends up being bad news. It seems that Adrian Cann, our 30 year old Canadian centreback that joined TFC just last year, has left training camp in South Carolina and headed back to Toronto. He has rejected a new contract offer and is, I’m assuming, still in negotiations with respect to his contract. At the moment, he is in the second year of a four year deal. Last season he earned $65,342 so he presumably wants more than that. How much more is uncertain, but I’m sure he’s not demanding some crazy astronomical wage. At the same time, this is really bad timing for one of our players to enter contract disputes with the management. I’m sure we can thank Mo for some of the issues we’ve been having with existing players’ contracts. Anyway, I’m hoping this is resolved quickly, very quickly because First Kick is just around the corner. Cann seems happy enough in Toronto. Last season he was even awarded (surprisingly) TFC’s MVP of the year over Dwayne De Rosario and Stefan Frei. Cann would be good to have around for experience and he works really well with Nana at the back. I think he was a big part in why Nana did so well last season. Even Nana says he was important in his progression. However, at the end of the day, it is up to Winter and the rest of our management to put a price on him. He’s on the wrong side of 30 now and our team (what’s left of it anyway) is looking much younger than in previous years. Cann is a decent player, but not irreplaceable. I think it would be best to keep him, but obviously I don’t know how much he wants and how much TFC are willing to shell out to keep him. I also don’t know how well he is fitting into the new system. I should also add that he is one of maybe 5 defenders that we actually have signed on our roster. There are a lot of factors at play, which only makes this matter more urgent. The sooner this is resolved, the better.

If you didn’t think our squad was thin enough, TFC have also waived Emmanuel Gomez. He was put on a waiver list, but as I understand, no club went in for any of the players listed in the end. The 20 year old Gambian defender made 9 appearances for Toronto FC in the 2009 MLS season. Last year he suffered a knee injury that saw him miss the 2010 season. With Gomez off the roster, it opens up an international spot, which I’m sure Winter had in mind when he released him. Hopefully we’ll see his spot filled soon because I think I can count on my two hands the players we have signed up and we don’t even have a clear picture of the starting eleven. Is anyone else getting flashbacks of last season when we were still bringing in players even after the season started? Sigh.

Rounding out today’s TFC news, our interim coach from last season and new TFC scout Nick Dasovic is being inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Daso!

First Kick is in 16 days and we still need a proper derby name! “Canadian Derby” seems a bit lame. Maybe “Great Canadian Derby” How about the “Great White North Derby”? Yeah, I know, I’m lame too. Two more weeks. I’m excited!

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It’s gone quiet around these here parts the last couple of weeks. My apologies, I had some urgent family matters come up and I didn’t have time for the blog. The Reds were busy though, so let me try to catch up as best I can:

• The remaining fixtures in Turkey saw TFC beat Red Star Belgrade 1-0 and lost to Dinamo Zagreb 3-1, giving the Reds a preseason record of 1-1-1

• Trialists Bas Ent and Santiago Gonzalez Acero have been released by TFC while Steven Beattie has chosen to focus on his studies at university

• A Dutch newspaper reported that TFC have signed trialists Javier Martina, Elbekay Bouchiba and Nick Soolsma. Nothing official has come from the club as of yet

• MLS released the league schedule for 2011. TFC’s full schedule can be found here

• We go to Vancouver on opening day, March 19. That’s followed by the home opener on March 26 when TFC host newcomers Portland Timbers. Vancouver comes to town on June 29

• No break during the Gold Cup

• 4 out of 5 matches in April are at BMO Field, including games against Columbus and LA Galaxy

• Schedule for the Nutrilite Canadian Championship has been announced. TFC will play a two-leg semi-final against FC Edmonton while Vancouver will play their semi-final against Montreal Impact

• Edmonton host TFC and Montreal host Vancouver on April 27. The reverse fixtures will be held on May 4. The winners of the semis will play in the two-legged final on May 18 and May 25

• TSN has announced that they have acquired MLS broadcasting rights and will be showing 24 MLS games during the 2011 season, including the 2 Canadian games

• On Monday, TFC travel to Orlando, Florida for the Disney Tournament. TFC play Houston Dynamo on Thursday in the semi-final. Check MLS main website for live match streams

Meet TFC players on Mon. Feb 21 at the Auto Show

The team has been back in the GTA since wrapping up their preaseason friendlies in Turkey. By all accounts, the players seem happy and motivated with Winter and de Klerk as a management team. They seem really open to talk to players and find out specifically what they need to improve on in order to find the solution. It’s really a positive feel coming from the team and everyone seems to be on board with the plan Winter has in mind for the club. Even DeRo is happier than he’s ever been. I saw him in the Canada game versus Greece as well, and I thought he was one of Canada’s best players, which is great to see.

It’s refreshing to see a coach that doesn’t pander or patronize their players. I believe that most players really want to play good football, passing football, attacking football. The hoofing-it-up-to-the-big-man and ultra-defensive style is one that can be effective, but can wear down a footballer. Listen to the players when they talk about how the coach want them to pass to each other more; harder passes with better control. See their faces light up as they describe how they are going to have more build up from the back and employ an attacking style. Players like to score goals too, which you can’t do so much if you are in a team that sits back too much. Managers of smaller clubs tend to go the defensive route because it’s easier and takes less time to employ as a strategy. Winter’s methods may take longer in order for the team to truly play well and get the results, but it will be worth it in the end if everyone works hard and buys into the system. You can see that if a manager has faith in the abilities of his team, then you can change the way they play. Just look at Bolton in the Premier League, or the Canadian Women’s National Team. Both of these teams went from route one football to a more passing and attacking game and you can see the players are happier and they are getting better results. We can only hope to see a similar progression with TFC this season. I, for one, am excited to see how the season unfolds in just a little under a month!

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After a mere 4 days of working with new head coach Aron Winter, the boys in red finally got on the pitch for their first preseason game. It was not being televised anywhere, so most had to follow @TorontoFC on twitter for live tweets on the game.

Kickoff in Turkey was at 10:00am ET against Partizan Belgrade. There were two completely different sides fielded in each half of the match. Winter employed a 4-3-3 formation in both halves.

First half lineup: Stefan Frei; Dan Gargan, Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann, Gianluca Zavarise; Jacob Peterson, Nick LaBrocca, Dwayne De Rosario; Nick Soolsma, Javier Martina, Sergio Gonzalez Areco

The first 45 minutes saw Nana open the scoring in the 6th minute. He headed the ball and put it in the back of the net off of a corner. Partizan came close to equalizing, but it was TFC who got some luck on the other end of the pitch when we were rewarded with a penalty after a foul on Gonzalez. Unfortunately, DeRo fluffed his lines and hit the post. To make things worse, Partizan themselves gained a penalty near the end of the half. Nemanja Tomic stepped up and scored from the spot to make it 1-1.

Second half lineup: Milos Kocic; Ty Harden, Doneil Henry, Emmanuel Gomez, Ashtone Morgan; King Gyan Osei, Nathan Sturgis, Oscar Cordon (Dwayne De Rosario 85’); Bas Ent, Maicon Santos, Joao Plata

The second half started slowly. Partizan hit the postin the 62nd minute and Bas Ent had a good chance for TFC when he was one-on-one with the keeper but shot wide. We seemed to have more chances than the Serbians in this half. Maicon came very close with a long range freekick. DeRo had to be brought on late in the game when Oscar Cordon picked up an injury. Doneil Henry made his mark on the game by managing to get sent off in a preseason friendly after receiving his second yellow card of the game. It’s not often a player gets sent off in a friendly like this, so Henry should be more careful next time and keep disciplined in order not to give the new coach any bad impressions. The final whistle blew and it ended 1-1 in Turkey. You can read the full match report here.

Bob de Klerk was interviewed after the game and had this to say:

“We are very satisfied with the way the game went. We had good chances and defended well against a team that is of a very high standard. The team has been training well but it is always good to see the players in a match to be able to assess them. Overall we are happy with the way things are going for us so far.”

A draw is a good result for a team that has barely played together. The most important thing though is not the result, but the way the team played on the pitch. It’s still early days, but the team seemed pleased with the performance and Winter now has a better idea of what some of these players are capable of. The team will have their next game on Sunday against a team that has yet to be announced.

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In other news, MLS has announced that they will hold an All-Star game on July 27 at Red Bull Arena. The opponent has not been announced yet, but they usually get good sides from top leagues, like Manchester United last year. We probably won’t see any of our players on show except for maybe DeRo who has the best shot at the side. Honestly though, it would be better if we had all of our players in Toronto staying fit and healthy rather than playing an exhibition match. If you happen to be in New York at the time, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check out the game. It should be a good one.

Finally, Stefan Frei recently sat down and had a chat with Gareth Wheeler. You can read the whole interview here. Dan Gargan will be involved in a live chat online on TorontoFC.com, so if you want to ask him a question, be sure to check it out on Thursday at 1:30pm ET.

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You will remember some names already from last season. They include:

Goalkeepers
Stefan Frei (24) Swiss
Milos Kocic (25) Serbian

Defenders
Nana Attakora (21) Canadian
Adrian Cann (30) Canadian
Daniel Gargan (28) American
Doneil Henry (17) Canadian
Emmanuel Gomez (20) Gambian
Ty Harden (26) American

Midfielders
Julian de Guzman (29) Canadian
Dwayne De Rosario (32) Canadian
Nick LaBrocca (26) American
Jacob Peterson (25) American
Nathan Sturgis (23) American

Forwards
Maicon Santos (26) Forward, Brazilian

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Three of the Draft picks from the SuperDraft are also on the roster:

Defenders
Demitrius Omphroy (21) American

Midfielders
Matthew Gold (22) American

Forwards
Joao Plata (18) Ecuadorian

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Four players from the TFC Academy are currently with the squad in Turkey:

Defenders
Ashtone Morgan (19) Canadian

Midfielders
Oscar Cordon (18) Canadian
Matthew Stinson (18) Canadian

Forwards
Keith Makubuya (18) Canadian

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In addition, there are several players currently on trial with the team. If they impress, they could be offered a contract by the club:

Goalkeepers

David Monsalve (22) Canadian
*Previously brought into TFC as an injury relief player in 2007. For the past 3 years he has been in Finland playing for FC Inter Turku. He played in goal for them in the Finnish Cup Final, which they won for the first time in their history. Was in the Canada squad for the 2007 U20 World Cup and the U23 squad for the 2008 Olympic Qualification tournament. He got his first senior cap for Canada in January 2010 against Jamaica in a friendly.

Defenders

Eddy Sidra (21) Canadian
*Played 2 seasons with Energie Cottbus in Bundesliga. Was a starter for Canada’s U19 and U23 teams and earned his first senior cap in 2009 against Cyprus. For the national team, he has played various positions including attacking fullback, wide midfielder, and standard defender.

Midfielders

Gianluca Zavarise (24) Canadian
*Started his career as a youth in Canada. Played half a season for Calcio Montebelluna before moving to AC Belluno in 2007. In 2008 he signed with VfL Bochum II and made 31 appearances. He then moved on to Greece, joining Iraklis Thessaloniki in 2010. Made his first start for the Canadian National Team last year against Venezuela.

Santiago Gonzalez Areco (18) Uruguayan
*Had been playing for Atletico River Plate Montevideo’s B Team until now. Made an appearance in the FIFA U17 World Cup in Nigeria in 2009. River Plate has a good record when it comes to developing youth, so could be an interesting prospect.

Bas Ent (23) Dutch
*Played for VC Volendam as a youth and was promoted to the first team when he turned 17. He played 10 games in 3 years for the club at senior level. He didn’t make many appearances because he was held back due to a serious knee injury. In 2009, Ent joined VV Katwijk and attended university. From May to July in 2010, he played in the USL with the Dayton Dutch Lions. He says he would like to play in MLS and experience soccer in a different country. Ent describes himself as a speedy winger who likes to take on defenders one-on-one. Was on trial with TFC last summer and made a solid appearance in TFC’s friendly against Bolton before trialing with Columbus Crew (boooo).

King Osei Gyan (22) Ghanaian
*Previously a player with Premier League side Fulham FC, though he never made an appearance for them. Was loaned to Belgian club Germinal Beerschot until 2010. He was released by Fulham in the summer of 2010 and attracted interest from Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC.

Forwards

Javier Martina (23) Dutch
*A striker who can play on the wing. Spent 3 years in the Ajax Academy after a couple short stints at other clubs in the Erdivisie. Was promoted to the senior team in 2008 and loaned out to HFC Haarlem in 2010. Was in the Netherlands U20 squad for the 2007 Toulon Tournament.

Nick Soolsma (23) Dutch
*Spent time with clubs HFC Haarlem and VV Young Boys in the Netherlands.

Obviously, Winter is targeting young players that he can develop and work with to fit his system. It could be a risky strategy in this league, but we really won’t know until we see the players together on the pitch. MLS is a very physical league as well, so having too many young or slight players may not be the best. Still, Winter has a clear vision of the players he wants for TFC and he deserves the chance to do things his way. It should also be interesting to see how the Academy players fare. If nothing else, they will have at least had a chance to train with the first team and spend some time with the more experienced players. We’ll have our first glimpse of the new Oranje-tinged TFC on Wednesday, though I doubt we’ll actually be able to see them unless TFC stream the match from overseas or we all try to find some dodgy stream straight from Turkey. Good stuff.

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I knew my warm and fuzzy feeling wouldn’t last too long because I was waiting for the inevitable uneasiness that was to come after DeRo finally came out to speak to the media. He was saying all the right things, but then he let his guard down a bit and revealed again his frustration at his current situation. At one point, when asked again about Celtic, DeRo shot back at the reporter asking “”If the New York Times asked you to write for their paper would you go?” He reiterated that there was no confusion over his trial/training in Scotland except for in the press.

As for his contract, things are still up in the air. Winter seems intent on keeping DeRo and making sure he is an important part of the team, so there’s no question he is staying with us this season. The issue is that DeRo wants to get paid what he thinks he is worth and what he thinks he deserves. He’s not getting any younger, and he wants to get more money now before he retires. I can understand that, particularly since he was notably underpaid at his previous clubs. However, what I don’t like is the way DeRo has handled all of this. I have already said that I don’t think his behaviour is befitting of a captain. If he does stay captain though, I will support him. It is really important that this issue is cleared up as soon as possible. The last thing we need is having a resentful captain looking at our DP with disdain or just unrest in the dressing room in general. No other club is going to pay DeRo what we do, so he won’t be going anywhere. He will obviously get a bump in his salary, but will he be made a DP? I really don’t know. It seems that Mo may have made DeRo some promises that he didn’t keep, like making DeRo a DP. Now DeRo wants what he was promised. Again, I understand where he is coming from, but he cannot hold the club to ransom. Like I said, we’re paying him much more than any other club in MLS would right now. Whatever the management decide to do, it needs to be done quickly. DeRo has already hinted that he might even sit out games if his contract isn’t sorted by the time the season starts. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, though I suspect it won’t. The most important thing is that he accepts what TFC have to offer and keep up his good work on the pitch.

As for the other players on the team, what’s clear is that Winter and the rest sat down with them and told them exactly what they envisioned for TFC. We would play with three forwards up front and play the ball out from the back. That means our keeper and backline would need to get used to having the ball at their feet more rather than just aimlessly thumping it away. It sounds like a 4-3-3 formation and very attacking. Think: the opposite of Prekiball. Looking at the players we have, you can kind of see already how things could take shape. Frei is a no-brainer in goal, while Nana and Cann look to continue their centreback partnership. Omphroy is very much an attacking fullback, so he can be deployed there and at leftback it is possible we could see Gargan there or one of the new defenders we’ve picked up. DeRo can sit in the middle of thie pitch behind the strikeforce. Julian and another player, like Sturgis for example, can fill out the midfield. Maicon can play up front as the main striker with two wingers in support. At the moment we could play Petersen or Lindsay as wide attacking players. Joao Plata can also fill that role. This is just an outline, but it gives an idea of what we could see at least in preseason. There are still more players to come so we will definitely see players come in that can provide some quality in our more vulnerable positions.

Aron Winter is a man who knows what he wants. He has been very quick to cut out any players that he doesn’t see fitting into his system with TFC. He is planning to bring in another DP by March and is currently trialing 6 players that he have caught his eye, including 3 Canadians. He is keen on developing young players properly and steering them away from the kick-and-rush style that he has noticed them playing in North America. To him, it is important that young players learn to play properly and not just focus on winning at the expense of playing well. Winter’s ambition is to bring through good young players, and for the first team, to get TFC to the playoffs this season and lead them to a Championship by the end of his three year contract. He has big hopes and expectations, but he also seems to have a plan, something that Mo never seemed to have. It will require patience from everyone, including the fans, but if it works, it will have been worth the wait.

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On Thursday, the Reds took off for Turkey for preseason training and friendlies. Their first match will be played on Wednesday against Partizan Belgrade. This is an important time for the club, especially for Winter and de Klerk who will finally get a good look at the players they have and start to work with them properly. It will also give the new players a chance to get to know the team and it will allow the team to start gelling a little.

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MLS has released their new roster rules for 2011. Houston will be joining us in the Eastern Conference, though it most probably will only last one season until Montreal arrives in 2012. There are also new rules that state Canadian teams, ie Toronto and Vancouver, are required to have a minimum of 3 Canadian domestic players on their rosters. A Canadian domestic player basically just needs to have the legal right to work in Canada and we already have several Canadians on the team, so it should not be a problem.

Finally, we say goodbye to former TFC Interim Coach Nick Dasovic who has parted ways with the club. With the new management in place and Nick wanting a head coaching position, this seemed inevitable. It’s unfortunate since he’s a nice guy who had a lot of respect within the club, not to mention he is Canadian. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

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