WHILE it wasn’t the most convincing of performances against the A-League new boys, it was certainly nice to get the first three points of the season and more importantly it was good to see Archie Thompson get on the scoresheet, also for the first time this season.
He could have quite possibly had a hat-trick if not for the efforts of Fury ‘keeper Paul Henderson, but I'm just happy that he was getting those kinds of opportunities.
Before the start of the season, Thompson had put a lot of pressure on himself by declaring that he was in the best condition he has ever been in for an A-League campaign, having had an uninterrupted pre-season with his Victory team-mates. There was also the added pressure of also wanting to be part of Pim Verbeek's squad for the 2010 World Cup.
This self-made pressure appeared to be playing its part in the first two games of the season as Thompson looked to be trying a little too hard and not pulling his weight in a leadership type of role, especially in the absence of Kevin Muscat. Also evident was his frustration at team-mates, match officials and opposition defenders when things didn't quite go his way.
However, that all appeared to have changed against Fury on Saturday afternoon, with a much more relaxed looking Thompson evident and a better on-field performance was the result. He even managed to take the couple of somewhat dubious offside calls in his stride.
While all Victory fans hold Thompson close to our collective hearts (five goals in a grand final will do that), and if the oft repeated opinion of the guy sitting behind me at last week's game against Roar is anything to go by - most probably believe that Thompson should let go of any pretensions he has about making that squad and concentrate hitting the back of the net for his club.
At his best Archie Thompson is unstoppable in the A-League, but the Socceroos is another step up in quality and quite frankly at the age of 31 and with limited Socceroos opportunities in the last four years, a 2010 World Cup squad spot is little more than a pipe dream.
