After surviving last year’s horror season and his worst barren streak since joining the A-League outfit, Thompson’s coming of age sees him fit and firing for club and country.

He talks a big game but at 33 Thompson is delivering where it matters most, on the park, with some scintillating pre-season form and a return to the Socceroos scoresheet.

And he’s in no doubt he has new head coach Ange Postecoglou to thank for the turnaround in his on-field fortunes.

“I feel very confident and the fittest and sharpest I’ve been in a long time and I think that’s due to the fact that Ange has got us working very hard,” Thompson said.

“From when he first took over to now you can see the difference just in terms of the football and certainly in the attitude of the players.

“Ange wants us to play a high intensity game and the guys are a lot fitter than what we’ve been in past seasons.

“I know I feel the best I’ve felt in such a long time – I feel like I’m 21 again...maybe 28! I feel as sharp as I did when I was 21.”

For the first time in a while Thompson, who has been playing out on the left for most of the pre-season, will be fighting on two fronts: a much-anticipated domestic campaign and World Cup qualifiers.

Talk of national team coach Holger Osieck’s man crush on the fleet-footed Victory star makes him laugh. But the German has made no secret of the fact he appreciates the striker’s X-factor quality, referring in the past to his unpredictability, pace and ability to confuse defensive lines.

For his part Thompson is simply relishing being back in the mix and scoring goals for the green and gold, despite the disappointment of this month’s shock World Cup qualifier loss.

“I couldn’t believe it when I scored against Lebanon - it had been almost six years since I actually scored for the Socceroos,” he said. "And then the next game I scored against Jordan.

“I don’t get many opportunities and I want to make the most of what I can, especially at the age I’m at. I want to make every Socceroos chance count.”

Now that’s he’s back to scoring goals for fun, Thompson is adamant Victory fans won’t see a repeat of last season when the club saw off two coaches - Mehmet Durakovic and Jim Magilton – and limped into 8th spot on the A-League ladder.

After basking in the signing of Socceroo great Harry Kewell, Victory’s 2011/12 campaign simply failed to ignite. It culminated in a 4-2 defeat to Perth in their final match of the season and not for the first time the normally upbeat Thompson vented his frustration.

“Thinking I need a change,” he tweeted in March.

It was hard to put his finger on what went wrong, he said. “Last year was disappointing – I’ve said before that it didn’t have the harmony we’ve had in the past.

“Maybe it was just different coaches coming in – it just never seemed settled.

“It just wasn’t a good feeling and for me – who’s been here from day one – it was probably the worst sort of feeling in the dressing room that we’ve had.

“That might just have just been because the results weren’t coming our way – the way that we played - it just sort of built-up.”

Not this season. This season, he says, there is a different vibe among the squad.

“All the signings we’ve got have just slotted in beautifully like they’ve been here for years,” he said.

“With (Marcos) Flores coming in it doesn’t feel like he’s only been with us for a couple of months, it honestly feels like he’s been there since day one.

“Adama’s (Traore) been great, Johnny Bru, (Guilherme) Finkler – it’s just a great feeling within the squad that we’re going to achieve something special.”

And Thompson plans to be in the thick of it.

“I just feel I’ve still got so much to give and I’m still improving and I’m still learning,” he said.

“I don’t think I’ve lost anything. A lot of the guys say I still have that sharpness and people are kind of wondering how I haven’t lost my speed or sharpness at the age I am.

“I’m still clocking the high ks,” he said. Then laughs: “I like to consider myself a fine wine.”