Melbourne Victory’s A-League legend Archie Thompson has seen it all in seven seasons with the club.

He said he watched the tumultuous Brisbane Roar Sydney FC clash and said he was glued to his seat as the drama unfolded.

The clash’s quality in an individual sense and tactical and technical levels highlight how far the competition has come, he said.

“I watched that game, it was one of the first A-League games and just the passion and stuff and how the game unfolded, what a great advertisement," he said.

“Obviously you don’t want to see that sort of stuff [melees] but seeing the passion and not giving up was a great advertisement.”

From almost every indicator – from speed to individual and tactical nous – the players are saying the A-League continues on an upward trajectory.

And with fans beginning to pour in again with over 20,000 at AAMI Park last week for Victory’s home tie with the Reds and almost 15,000 at Suncorp, the league is clearly on the right track.

Melbourne Heart’s Clint Bolton agrees with the Victory man’s assessment and pointed to Roar as the inspiration.

“In the last two seasons we’ve seen a far quicker game and that’s because of Brisbane Roar,” the former Sydney FC two-time grand final winner told FourFourTwo Australia magazine.

"Teams are fitter – and they should be – but we’re seeing the standard rise and a lot of that is due to Brisbane.

“For them to achieve success on the back of playing this type of football you can only admire them. They’ve dragged up everyone else.

“And at most clubs there are good quality tacticians but I’ve no doubt that is on the back of Brisbane. Coaches have seen you can achieve success by playing this style.

"Everyone’s playing catch up which has made for an interesting dynamic.”

Former Jets star and Heart midfielder Matt Thompson is another who’s seen it all in seven years. He believes depth is the key.

“It’s more competitive these days. First couple of years there was always that game you might have where it wasn’t as tough as other teams,” he said.

“And in terms of individual players in squads it’s a lot stronger. I think five or six years ago you had a strong first 12-14 players in the squads but at the moment the majority of the teams have a strong 20.

"I think that’s the biggest difference between now and then.”

See the full interviews with Bolton and Thompson in the next issue of FourFourTwo Australia magazine.

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