CREDIT: CP
Toronto FC Head Coach Ryan Nelsen takes questions from media, when he was still a player for Queens Park Rangers.

Toronto FC made a big move during the off season by picking up Queens Park Rangers player Ryan Nelsen as head coach for the upcoming season.

The seed of doubt was quickly planted into supporters' heads since, after all, he was still a player. Yet QPR let him go halfway through their desperate relegation battle over in England.

He took over the team February 1, with only one month left before the start of the season. There are several reasons why Nelsen is a good fit for the job.

TFC has become a hilarious product on the field, mostly because of their defence. They let too many motions through their back line last season and it showed on the score sheet. Nelsen brings an experience to defense that many TFC coaches before couldn't teach. In fact, Toronto has never had a head coach who played defence. Even though coaches like Predrag "Preki" Radosavljević worked closely with the defence, Nelsen can use his own experiences and teach what he knows best. This will be of great benefit to young defenders like Doneil Henry.

One of the reasons why Nelsen got the job in the first place was his relationship with now TFC president Kevin Payne. Payne has been president at DC United since their creation in 1994. He oversaw Ryan Nelsen's draft and MLS career.

During the MLS SuperDraft this year, some writers asked in a condescending tone if Neslen, a New Zealand native, even knew what a draft was like! He was drafted out of Stanford in 2001. He played on United until 2005 and has since moved on to the Premier League with Blackburn, Tottenham and recently QPR. While in DC, Payne said that Nelsen often demonstrated his understanding and interest in coaching. This gives Nelsen an advantage as the MLS can sometimes be a strange animal in the soccer world.

Rules such as a player salary cap, the allocation of money (fake money, only used to exchange players within the league) and of course the draft can often be a steep learning curve for even the most experienced coaches. Nelsen knows all of this stuff already.

Nelsen is young, you can't argue against that. But you can debate whether or not this is useful when it comes to coaching. Coaches in North America are becoming increasingly younger. There are now seven coaches under the age of 40 in the MLS. Sure, it should be noted that four of those signings have happened this past off season, but the other three — Martin Rennie with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Ben Olsen with DC and Jason Kreis with Real Salt Lake — all made the playoffs last year.

In TFC's case, powerhouse midfielder Torsten Frings likely influences players more as a player himself than any other coach that has been there. Nelsen's youth will hopefully help him reach out to players better than some 61 year old who never played in North America before.

With training camp underway, it's time to see what this 35 yearold can do. Toronto FC players kickoff their season in Vancouver on March 2.