MELBOURNE Victory legend Archie Thompson says an exciting youngster could be the spark that rejuvenates the club’s midfield going forward.

All that and more in A-League Media Watch!

VICTORY SHOULD TURN TO TEEN: THOMPSON

MELBOURNE Victory legend Archie Thompson has called for his former club to turn to 16-year-old Sebastian Pasquali in an attacking midfield role.

With James Troisi sidelined with a broken collarbone, Fahid Ben Khalfallah was moved into the number 10 position against Melbourne City and struggled.

Thompson said Pasquali, who made a name for himself with a strong cameo against Juventus in pre-season, sealed by scoring the winning penalty in the shootout, could be an option to spark the Victory midfield.

“Ben Khalfallah played that position against City and didn’t see too much of the ball so I think Muscat might look at making a change,” Thompson said on Fox Sports’ Shootout.

“He might even bring in Pasquali, the 16-year-old to play in that 10 position.

“All reports I’m hearing out of the camp are that he’s a phenomenal player and I heard about this boy when he was 12 years old because he grew up in the same area as I did.”

Few teenagers have exploded onto the scene in recent years, with many A-League clubs choosing to develop their youngsters at National Youth League level before gradually exposing them to senior football.

Thompson said if Pasquali could shine at such a young age, it would rejuvenate both Victory and the league as a whole.

“I think that would be great because I think the league needs someone — they need a 16-year-old, they need someone to come in and they can go ‘he’s the next superstar’ and follow his career when they go overseas, like a Harry Kewell.

“It’d be great if they could (blood) someone like him because next week’s going to be a big match and you’re only going to know the temperament of a player if you put him in a big game.”

PODCAST: Adam Peacock, Simon Hill and Daniel Garb discuss the big talking points across the globe.

ARCHIE THINKS TIDE WILL TURN FOR BERISHA

BESART Berisha has struggled for form in the first two weeks of the season but former teammate Archie Thompson believes it’s just a temporary hiccup.

Berisha had just nine passes against Melbourne City, with only one of three shots on target, while he also failed to have an impact against the Roar.

Thompson said it was a matter of Berisha settling into a new forward setup at Victory.

“He’d be more disappointed than anyone because as a player he expects the best out of himself,” Thompson said on Fox Sports’ Shootout.

“At the moment he’d say he wasn’t delivering.

“There’s been two games where he’s been very, very quiet. But that’s two where he’s got players that he’s not used to playing (with).”

Former Central Coast Mariner Daniel McBreen said losing Thompson and fellow playmakers Kosta Barbarouses and Gui Finkler played a role in Berisha’s drop-off in form.

“You take yourself (Thompson) out of there, they’ve lost Barbarouses and Finkler,” he said on Fox Sports’ Shootout.

“Rojas is new come back in and he’s probably not quite into the flow of things yet.

“That’s three players around him that have gone and you need to build a new rapport.”

PUNDITS TALK UP CITY YOUNG GUN KAMAU

MARK Bosnich says it’s hard to believe Adelaide let young winger Bruce Kamau go to Melbourne City.

Kamau has starred in his first two A-League appearances for his new team and was one of the best afield in the Melbourne Derby.

Bosnich said he wasn’t surprised the youngster had kicked on from an impressive 2015/16 campaign for the Reds.

“He was outstanding last season for Adelaide,” Bosnich said on Fox Sports’ Shootout.

“Ned Zelic asked him about whose decision it was to let (him) go and he basically intimated it was Adelaide’s, which I can’t believe.

“He was very good against Wellington and also on the weekend.”

Kamau impressed with his ability to take players on against Victory, comprehensively beating both Daniel Georgievski and Alan Baro in one-on-ones.

But former Victory star Archie Thompson said Kamau’s composure under pressure was most impressive — with his cutback to Luke Brattan particularly impressive.

“I love watching young players and to have confidence to take players on,” he said on Shootout.

“He takes players on but he also has the composure to pick out players in the box, as you (saw) with the Luke Brattan finish.”

McBreen agreed, saying Kamau’s composure to pick out Brattan was particularly impressive.

“A lot of young guys when they get in that position towards the goal would think ‘right, just lash it at the goal’ but he had the composure to get his head up and pick out a player in between players as well,” McBreen said.

“So it’s good to see that he’s actually out there and looking.”

THOMPSON TALKS UP RISDON’S SOCCEROOS HOPES

THE right back position has proved a tough one for Ange Postecoglou to fill in recent matches.

A multitude of players have been tested in the role, with Ryan McGowan and Mark Milligan the two latest choices.

But Perth Glory defender Josh Risdon’s strong start to the A-League season could throw him into contention, according to Thompson.

“Last year (Risdon) was on the fringes or even made the Socceroos team and it just kind of fell away towards the end of last year,” Thompson said on Fox Sports’ Shootout.

“But that right (back) position in the Socceroos isn’t quite secure yet and I think if you see him making forward runs like this, picking players out, having assists, scoring goals, you’ll see him being a lot more involved in the Socceroos team

“And hopefully he can take his opportunity because over the last couple of years I’ve seen a huge improvement in Risdon.”

FFA CUP SHOWS COMPETITIVENESS OF LOWER LEVEL CLUBS: BOSNICH

SYDNEY FC may have progressed to the FFA Cup Final but opponents Canberra Olympic did their reputation no harm.

Bosnich said the NPL side, which lost to Sydney FC 3-0, could well have gotten even closer had it been playing during the NPL season.

“It leads me to think to myself, what about if Canberra were full time,” he said on Fox Sports’ Shootout.

“What about if Canberra were in the middle of their season? Would there have been that much of a gap? Because there wasn’t that much of a gap last night.

“In fact, it took that world-class free kick from Milos Dimitrijevic to basically put (them) away.

Bosnich said that while Syndey had missed several opportunities — highlighting a sitter missed by Alex Brosque — Canberra’s competitiveness had been his main takeaway from the game.

“That was the question that I was left with the whole day, thinking to myself ‘how would it be,’” he said.

“The goalkeeper for Canberra, Konstantinou was outstanding, yes, but that’s what I was thinking about.”

Sydney will face the victor of next week’s all-Melbourne semi-final in the FFA Cup Final.