TORONTO – Chris Armas’ response to all the uncertainty ahead is to focus on what is clear.

The last year has seen all kinds of obstacles thrown at Toronto FC and as a new season approaches it promises just as many more lie ahead.

The first is the much delayed conclusion of the 2020 Canadian Championship, where TFC and Forge FC are set to meet and determine who will represent the nation in the Concacaf Champions League.

With the opening leg of the winner’s Round of 16 series against Club Leon set for April 7 the final must be played before then, but a date has yet to be set.

“We're preparing for a match in the next two-and-a-half, three weeks,” levelled Armas. “We're waiting for clarity on that.”

The planning for all possibilities has been laid out.

“Bill Manning, Ali Curtis, they've been very strategic, thinking about every little thing: if the game is played here, then we do this; if it's played there, then we do this, here's when we leave,” Armas continued. “The job they've done to get everything in order, so that when it’s decided, boom all the dominoes fall.”

“Every decision will be made with one thing in mind, that gives us every ounce, every percentage point, of what gives us the best chance to win and move on,” he focused. “We're not talking about Club Leon right now. That's only in the dreams. Right now it's focused on getting our team all together as we're pushing the envelope physically, as we're pushing the envelope tactically, and take care of everything we can control while preparing for the things that are coming.”

Amidst the flurry of the opening weeks of preseason, Armas and his staff have started analyzing their upcoming opponents.

Bobby Smyrniotis has led the Hamilton-based side to two straight Canadian Premier League titles and their roster is stocked with names familiar to TFC and Canadian soccer fans, including a pair of former TFC players in Kyle Bekker and Mo Babouli.

“We have watched a bit, trying to prepare and to understand their coach, the style of play, some of the player qualities, how they defend, how they attack and in that knowing that on game day some of it doesn't even show up because they do something different,” confided Armas. “We're just trying to get comfortable understanding their team right now.”

“And we're doing that as the bulk of our work is us, in our walls, getting on the same page on and off the field and implementing and working and creating clarity,” he continued. “In two weeks there's been a lot of work done. We've really focused on ourselves as of right now, [but we’ve started] cutting film, looking at some different things. Seeing specifically that they're good in transition, they can play off the striker, they have some guys one-vs-one that are dangerous.”

“They've been a well-coached team and we'll have all the respect in the world for them stepping into that,” Armas added. “There's some other little nuances that we've seen in how they defend that we will try to exploit.”

With the MLS regular season set to kickoff the weekend of April 17, most other sides in the league are just getting their preseasons underway. TFC will have had some two extra weeks of preparation under their belt come mid-month, but that can be a double-edged sword.

“I expect [us to come out of the gates quickly],” forecast Armas. “I expect that the time that we have to prepare is going to get our team moving quicker and coming together quicker than other MLS teams because we would have had more intersquads or more 90-minute matches leading up to game one.”

Early in the year any advantage is valuable, but it does come with a risk.

“At the same time that puts a stress on teams; we have to fast forward things,” he balanced. “There is a physical demand that will put a strain on our team. So does this help us or it can hurt us a little bit? That can sometimes derail things if you lose a couple of big pieces.”

Toronto have experienced that before, the epic 2018 Concacaf run and the toll it took on the season.

“The plan is that it helps us come day one of MLS,” resolved Armas.

It is also still unclear where TFC will be playing their home matches this season. Just another hurdle to climb in a year that promises many.

“It puts a strain [on teams and players] when they're away, [at] a new home venue,” allowed the coach. “Where is that? What about our supporters? What about playing, having the home field advantage that other teams will have this year? Are we going to have that at some point because that's a big deal.”

“There's a reality and then is going to be our reality, which is no excuses,” Armas stiffened. “We are playing to win every game. We're going to be aggressive and go after every game, we’ll be prepared and from day one the goal will be to use all of this time that we've had to help us pick up running in all ways.”