Toronto FC coach John Carver welcomed the players back for the start of preseason training at BMO Field on Monday morning. The team will train in Toronto this week before flying to Florida on Friday. Players started arriving at the stadium at 7:30 a.m. and had a full day of medical and fitness testing.
"It's been a long day because they were in early to do blood tests and medicals," said coach John Carver. "The guys have been doing fitness tests so that we can see where they are compared to the end of last season. I'm really looking forward to Tuesday because that is when we will start the ball work. We will spend the rest of the week here and go into small sided games straight away. We will do a little bit of running but all of our fitness work is done with the ball and it will give us something to build on before we head off to Florida."
"I just couldn't wait to get going this morning," said Carver. "I was like a young school kid and was awake early. I was driving to the stadium by 6:00 a.m. All of the staff are really excited. We had a meeting with all of the players to tell them what we expect from them. We had a 10 point improvement last season and I'm looking for a similar improvement this year."
Carver is delighted to keep three key players with the club for the 2009 season. Rohan Ricketts, Danny Dichio and Carl Robinson all agreed extended contracts. "In any football club stability is very important. I think we have the nucleus of a very good side. We're always looking to improve and raise the bar and the guys who are here now realize that there is a lot of competition for places. The fact that we have got these three guys back on board is very important for the club," explained Carver.
