Proper pre-season prep?

For Toronto FC, training camp has been in full swing for a number of weeks.

The team opened camp by training together in Oakville, Ont., before heading down to Orlando. While in Florida, the Reds will take part in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic.

The eight-team tournament will be the only formal exhibition matches that Toronto will play to prepare for their March 7 game against the Los Angeles Galaxy in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Many fans have been wondering if playing only three games -- four if the team makes the final -- is enough preparation for such a demanding start to the season. The coaching staff, on the other hand, appears confident that their team will be prepared despite so few games.

This light pre-season schedule is a big change from last year where the club travelled to Turkey as well as down to Orlando for the Disney tournament. This year, coach Aron Winter was clear that he felt all that added travel was too much for the players and actually left them ill prepared for the MLS campaign in 2011. He was newly appointed to the job and still trying to learn about the players at his disposal, so the added miles and matches left the team with more questions than answers going in to the start of the season.

It's a year later and things are much more stable for Toronto FC. Much of the team is returning from last year and the new additions were all brought in with plenty of time to spare before the start of the new season. That means that Winter and the rest of the coaching staff have a much less steep learning curve to deal with and can focus on getting players match fit, up to game speed, and working together as a cohesive unit.

The question is what is the best way to achieve those goals?

The coaching staff feels it can be achieved by putting in as many hours as possible on the training field. The two-a-day practice sessions will certainly help with improving fitness and cohesion. It will also help that the team will have spent over a month training together by the time that March 7 rolls around.

But while they might be familiar with each other and in good shape, most people would argue that the only way to get up to game speed is by playing actual games.

The matches that Toronto FC will play this pre-season will be against Orlando City Soccer, BK Haken, and FC Dallas, with the potential to play an additional game in either the final or the third-place match. With the tournament running from February 25 until March 3 it will lead the team nicely into the CCL matches.

Despite being one of the last MLS teams to play a pre-season friendly the way that things are set up for Toronto will allow them to build right up to the L.A. match. Add to that the fact that these tournament matches at least take on a somewhat competitive feel and it should help the team to make up for lost time.

Regardless of how you feel about the preparation the coaches are confident in their plan. The years of turmoil and last minute roster moves are behind them and for once the team is looking at an issue free pre-season.

All that is left now is to get down to playing a few tune-up games, finalize the 30-man roster and get ready for LA. With only a few weeks left to go until the season gets under way TFC seems to be right on the track their coaching staff laid out and that is a good thing.

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