Good evening. Its been a week full of excitement as the first Melbourne Derby of the season draws ever closer. I always look forward to the big games against Sydney and Adelaide but the derby is quickly becoming just as passionate.

The stakes are raised even higher this time as both teams have started the season slowly and are on the hunt for three points tomorrow night. We’ll be without Adrian Leijer, thanks to his red card in last weeks game and He*rt will also be without their captain, Fred.

As I write this the teams have not yet been announced so instead I’ll give my preference/prediction of how we should/could line up:

Covic – Foschini – Franjic – Vargas – Fabio – Brebner – Cernak – Rojas – Kewell – Thompson – Solorzano.

I’d prefer to not have Brebner starting, going by his recent performances but I can’t see him being dropped. Hernandez and Kewell in the starting lineup didn’t work last week but having Carlos on the bench isn’t a bad option if you need to introduce some creativity during the game.

On Carlos, Durakovic said today:

We’ve got a big squad and we’ve got a very experienced squad and some really good youngsters coming through.

But it will take time for the team shape and the team structure that I want to mould, it will take time.

Once we get the structure up and running there will be a place for Carlos.

When that will take place, we don’t know whether it’s next week or the week after or this week.

I’d have to agree with him there. There are so many new players in this squad and they’re still learning to play with each other. Carlos is too good a player to leave out every week so maybe as the season goes on, playing him alongside Kewell will eventually work. Right now though, we need to be putting a team out that will start winning us games.

As for Harry, he was taken out of the game last week playing up front on his own so for me, he must return to playing in the hole where he can provide for the strikers and bring others into the game. Cernak was excellent against Sydney so I’d like to see him start this game on the wing. Up front, we need some pace. Playing Archie and Solorzano together is a wise choice in my opinion and could be the difference against He*rt. Playing a lone striker clearly doesn’t work for this team, no matter who you put there.

At the back, we can expect Petar Franjic to step in for the suspended Leijer. The kids got plenty of talent and showed promising signs in a handful of appearances last season. I’m looking forward to seeing how he performs in such a big game.

We’ll know more tomorrow when the teams are released but for now, onto this weeks Victorycast. Episode 11 features a fantastic interview with Anthony Grima. Anthony is the Team Manager for Melbourne Victory’s Youth team and he gives us a good insight into the workings of a National Youth League side ahead of the new season which kicks off this weekend. Also on the pod, Paul Williams and I review the first two weeks of the A-League season and preview tomorrow’s Melbourne Derby.

To listen the latest episode, as always you can download it directly on victorycast.com or subscribe either via RSS or iTunes.