Fred's selection as Melbourne Heart captain this week signaled a significant shift - both in leadership and team ethos - at the club, which may well prove decisive in the team's push toward a top-six finish.

Heart's inaugural captain, former Socceroo Simon Colosimo, was earmarked as a vital piece in the on-field puzzle by coach John van 't Schip - drawing from both leadership experience in the A-League with Perth Glory and Sydney FC and as an international with 26 caps. Colosimo was the face of the Club's first marketing and membership campaigns, and openly expressed his desire to re-enter the national team fray. And then a ball was kicked.

Colosimo's body, and fitness, have proven significant burdens during his twilight years, and they did not go unnoticed by the coaching panel last term. Van 't Schip took just three matches before partnering Matt Thompson with then centre-half Michael Beachamp, relegating an initially injured Colosimo first to the medical room, and then the pine. If he was lucky.

Showing a renewed willingness to adapt to the Dutchman's 4-3-3, Colosimo regained his position late in the season, but was less than convincing in his performance and positioning at set pieces. And the ease with which advancing attackers turned him was also a worry. The winter recess must have done little to temper van't Schip's misgivings.

In contrast, the man deposing Colosimo from the first-team last year, former Newcastle Jet, Thompson, displayed supreme versatility across the back four. His doggedness without the ball, and his technical ability at playing out from defense proved a major asset to van 't Schip, who could afford then to deploy young full-backs Aziz Behich and the outstanding Michael Marrone in more advanced positions. Unfortunately for Colosimo, a more stark contrast could not be made.

Like Thompson, this season's trump signing Fred bears similar qualities, but also that invaluable ability to play the final ball. His elevation to near-deity by the Victory throng in 2006-07 was wholly justified - flair and technique in the attacking midfield role coupled with a work ethic that belied his Brazilian heritage.

This term, with the red half of Melbourne, his responsibilities will interestingly be extended include to that of intermediary. Heart's off-season signings include Argentinian winger Jonathan, and Brazilian forward Maycon to compliment the finesse in attack of the injury-prone countryman Alex Terra - a group representing somewhat of a footballing beauty pageant with English subtitles. As Victory's Rodrigo Vargas was to Alessandro, Claudinho, Hernandez, Lopez and Angulo, so will Fred be at Heart. The A-League, for one, will hope. 

Van 't Schip will again field a team capable of dynamic play, transitioning between possession and delay with ease, but on paper at least, and until this week's announcement, a team without a talismanic figure in the centre of the park.

Towering forward Gerald Sibon has moved on, and thus left a gaping hole at trequartista - his positioning higher up the park after the first half-dozen matches proved a subtle indication of the tactical prowess of the coach, and of the mechanics of his preferred formation itself. Happily, Fred possesses said qualities, and despite being an easier target for a strategically mistimed tackle than Sibon, he brings a sense of theatre to a still-fledgling team searching for identity.

COACH:  John van 't Schip

MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER:  Fred

PLAYER TO WATCH:  Michael Marrone

LAST YEAR:  8th  (P:30  W:8  D:11  L:11  GD:-10)

PREDICTED FINISH THIS YEAR: 5th