Filling the holes

A recurring theme with Toronto FC over the years has been its tradition of coming out of pre-season unprepared, using the first few games of the regular season to add players and figure out their first choice team, and throwing away potentially important points in the process.

Given that this is one of the few years they haven't changed coaches and overall direction, and that this season’s first few games include two of the biggest encounters in club history, there should be a welcome stability and readiness to kick off the 2012 MLS campaign.

So far, plenty of players have been let go. Despite rumours of deals being agreed with both new and returning players there's only been the welcome re-signing of Joao Plata and the minor additions of Jeremy Hall and Reggie Lambe to bolster last year's improved but still lacking squad.

With the players slowly trickling back to Toronto and pre-season set to get going in earnest this week, let's look at where the squad stands right now, what questions need to be answered over the next month and a half, and what holes need to be filled.

In goal is probably the one area where there's no improvements necessary. In Stefan Frei and Milos Kocic, Toronto has two goalkeepers who've proven themselves good enough to be starters in MLS. Talk at the end of last season was of one of them, probably Frei, being traded to improve the roster in other positions. Without knowing if the club has tried or is still trying to do that, it seems likely that both will still be here come March, in which case I'd expect to see Frei given the starter’s job.

At the other end of the pitch, now that Plata is definitely coming back, and Peri Marosevic definitely isn't, there's two main questions to be answered.

First up is who starts at right wing? Nick Soolsma proved himself a steady and reliable player out there, without ever providing the flair and excitement you'd want and expect from a top class winger. For that reason I'd be inclined to give Reggie Lambe a start to see if he can provide the dangerous play similar to Plata on the left. If he turns out more like Javier Martina, TFC can always go back to the somewhat dull but productive reliability of Soolsma.

The other question is where exactly Ryan Johnson fits in. He was one of TFC's best players after coming over from San Jose in 2011, providing a secondary scoring option so dearly missed in the first half of the season. But there's no obvious place for him, and he'll probably find himself second in the depth chart behind Danny Koevermans at the forward position, behind Plata at left wing and behind Eric Avila at attacking midfield. His versatility should at least ensure plenty of substitute appearances, but is that really the role you'd want for one of the higher paid players on the team?

The starting line-up in midfield seems fairly settled, presuming defensive reinforcements arrive, and the club should revert to the three-man midfield. Whether it's a point back or point forward, the first choice players will be Torsten Frings, Julian de Guzman and Avila. There's plenty of quality depth as well with Terry Dunfield, Matt Stinson, and the more unknown quantities of Elbekay Bouchiba and SuperDraft pick up Luis Silva.

It's in defence where TFC has the most to learn from in pre-season, as of the time of writing there's a lot of holes to be filled, though quite a few players have been reported as signed, just not officially confirmed.

Ashtone Morgan will probably be the first choice left back, a position he earned last year but which is definitely risky given his age. At right back, it looks like Richard Eckersley will return, and if so he's an obvious starter ahead of Hall and Stinson.

At centre back, let's hope reports of Chilean Miguel Aceval and Ecuadorian Geovanny Caicedo joining the team are correct. With Andy Iro now departed and Adrian Cann and Dicoy Williams both unlikely to be back for the start of the season, the centre back partnership would be Ty Harden and Doneil Henry backed up by Aaron Maund, which sounds potentially disastrous.

That's the main problem that needs to be resolved either before or during pre-season. But overall this is already the most settled and stable line-up TFC has ever taken into training camp.

Duncan Fletcher is a Toronto-based writer and key contributor to Waking the Red, a blog about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. Follow Duncan on Twitter.