De Ro & Co. had one final training session in Toronto before
It's hard to believe, but Toronto FC went through its final training session in Toronto Thursday and will now head south to Florida for final preparations ahead of what will be a historic trip to Vancouver for the 2011 MLS season opener.
It begins with the Disney tournament in Orlando; which precedes the annual final tuneup event in Charleston South Carolina.
Head coach Aron Winter expects to take a smaller squad with him than the much larger group he dealt with in Turkey and Toronto. The three new Dutch players will be in tow however, along with several new trialists who are North or South American based.
Winter says another designated player is a possibility although he was quick to point out that character is just as important as ability. He has also come to love the versatility he sees in Dwayne De Rosario but pointed out that he would prefer to use him in one specific role as much as possible.
For his part, De Rosario agrees with the boss and says he's happier now than at any time since he signed with the club. We'll see how that goes.
We also had an interesting chat with goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who told us his role is changed as well under Winter. The new philosophy has this team playing ball up through the back so proper goalkeeper distribution becomes critical.
Check out our interviews here with Winter, De Rosario and Frei.
Everyone gets the weekend off now to get settled before the final push to ready themselves before the new season gets underway.
