Preseason training has begun for the Columbus Crew. The roster has been shored up with the addition of SuperDraft selections Dilly Duka and Bright Dike and with the official return of Guillermo Barros Schelotto, yet questions remain. The club is currently training in Bradenton, Fla., in preparation for the quarterfinal round of the CONCACAF Champions League where the Black and Gold face Toluca in Crew Stadium on March 9.

The team’s most pressing concern is undoubtedly goal production. Despite winning the Supporters Shield again during the last campaign the Crew scored nine fewer goals in 2009 than they did in the MLS Cup-winning season of 2008.

A lot of this might be contributed to the positioning of Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who played a different role under Robert Warzycha than under Sigi Schmid. During the Sigi era Schelotto was more of an attacking midfielder and was able to accrue a league leading 19 assists as well as netting seven goals in 2008. In 2009 Warzycha took the reins and pushed Schelotto further up top alongside Alejandro Moreno. It was in this position that GBS’s stats from last season flip-flopped to 12 goals and only 3 assists.

Yet the team can’t rely solely on the ability of Schelotto to score goals and win games. The loss of Moreno to Philadelphia, while unfortunate, is not as large of a blow as one might first think. Steven Lenhart and Emilio Renteria share a similiar play style to Moreno and can easily replace him while also making the team younger. There is also Jason Garey who has proven to be a fairly consistent goal scorer when given field time. He was signed to a new four year deal which is an awfully long contract for someone to sit the bench. Don’t be surprised if he plays a more active role in the line-up in 2010. It has also been revealed that Polish striker Kamil Witkowski (25) will be joining the team in Florida. Witkowski has played for Cracovia Krakow of the Polish first division since 2007 but was loaned to Gornik Leczna of the second division last year. There isn’t much yet to say about the Polish striker but considering Warzycha is also Polish we’ll have to assume he knows something we don’t. There is also one other unnamed player slated to join the team in Florida. Hopefully either Kamil or the mystery man works out to be the speed the team so desperately needs up top.

The trio working the wings need to step up their game as well. Rogers, Gaven and Ekpo only combined for a total of nine goals and 11 assists all season. That just isn’t gonna cut it. If Warzycha implements a formation with two defensive mids like he did last season with Carroll and O’Rourke the wings will need to pick up the slack left by the absence of an attacking mid. It’s not as if they don’t have enough incentive to give 100%… not only are they competeing with each other and against the other midfielders for starting spots, but at the top of their game all three are candidates for their respective national teams.

Another big question that needs to be addressed is the fitness of Crew captain, fan favorite and soul of the team, Frankie Hejduk. Frankie’s focus and physical abilities fell off noticeably by the end of last season. I don’t like to point fingers, especially at a guy as lovable as Frankie, but at least two of the goals scored by Real Salt Lake in the playoffs can be attributed to a lapse in judgement by Hejduk. Luckily while Frankie was dropping off, Zayner was exploding onto the scene. Jesus Jed had a breakout season in 2009 after having only appeared in a handful of games since being selected 16th overall in the 2006 SuperDraft. Last season Zayner played in 20 games, 16 of which he started, and tallied 1 assist. He was in the starting line-up and played the full 90 during the 1-0 win in the Monster’s Cave against Saprissa. If given the opportunity Zayner could easily take over for Frankie.

Ray Burse is in Florida training with the team. With Andy Gruenebaum still recovering from his off season hip surgery, could the Crew be looking at Burse as a new backup for Hesmer?

The full MLS 2010 schedule was released yesterday. The season kicks off with Philly taking on Seattle at Qwest Field on March 25 and the Crew opens the season at home against Toronto on March 27. Five of the Crew’s 30 games will be nationally televised, two on ESPN and three on Fox Soccer Channel. The remaining games will be available on the Ohio News Network.