Their time together has been brief and the first kick of significance is still more than a month away, but the early reviews from the new Toronto FC head coach, and the men playing for him, are decidedly upbeat.

Former Dutch international Aron Winter, who promised to bring an attractive, attacking, possession-filled game to TFC when he took the job last month, liked what he saw during the two weeks of training in Turkey.

And, the feeling is mutual.

“It’s a style that everyone likes and enjoys playing,” captain Dwayne De Rosario said Tuesday after the Reds trained in Oakville. “There’s a lot of movement, the ball is on the ground, a lot of talking and possession.”

De Rosario, who said of his ongoing contract dispute that “things definitely look brighter” and “we all want to get it behind us and focus on football,” added Winter’s call to play in space and run at guys suits his game.

“You’re not looking at the goalie lumping the ball up the field,” said De Rosario, who had a career-best and club record 15 goals in 2010.

Winter pronounced himself “very happy” with his core 15 or so players. But with changes allowing rosters of up to 30 this year, he said “we’re looking to have a good team” to withstand a long MLS season, June’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will likely see several Canadian internationals on TFC called up, and other potential competitions such as the Champions League.

Winter said the club is about to sign three Dutch players who were on trial in Turkey — forwards Javier Martina and Nick Soolsma, and midfielder Elbekay Bouchiba. He called their performance overseas “very good.”

Martina, 24, and Soolsma, 23, who were trained in Dutch youth programs, started all three games for TFC in Turkey. Bouchiba, 32, spent a decade in the top Dutch league before going to play in Qatar the past two seasons.

“These are three good players,” Winter said. “I’m convinced that they can make a difference during this season.”

De Rosario said the trio understands the “Dutch-style football” that Winter wants to play and “they’ll fit in quite well with this team and this league.”

Midfielder Jacob Peterson, who was acquired just prior to last season as someone who could widen the field down the wing but never got on track under former head coach Preki Radosavljevic, said Winter “instills a lot of confidence” in the players.

“When you have a coach that believes in the system, believes in the players, I think that you can do good things,” Peterson said.

Julian de Guzman, who continues to recover from off-season knee surgery, said “guys are impressed and surprised by the changes that have been made.

“There are a lot of positives that we can take into the season,” he said.

TFC, which was 1-1-1 during three exhibition matches against European sides in Turkey, will get its first taste of action against Major League Soccer opposition at the Disney World Pro Soccer Classic in Florida next week.

That will be followed by three more exhibition games at the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, S.C., from March 5 to 12.

TFC kicks off its fifth MLS season March 19 in Vancouver against the expansion Whitecaps.