Ah, that famous line: "To be the best, you must beat the best!"

Playing first and second in consecutive matches is an excellent opportunity to prove yourself, unfortunately, we were outplayed and humbled by two more deserving and well polished outfits.

Our first half against Brisbane was a joy to watch: pin point passing, poise and movement to keep possession and confidently keep the league leaders scrambling for a glimpse of the ball.

But we were totally outplayed in the second half; Brisbane's class completely shining through. Despite a momentum-crushing defeat, we've certainly improved on the 4:0 drubbing handed out by Roar earlier in the season.

As Michael Lynch wisely stated in his Age article last Sunday (21/11); "it (Heart) is more than competitive against most teams but not quite good enough to trouble the top sides."

We never looked like troubling an efficient Adelaide which opened the scoring in ear-piercing circumstances and continued on their merry way.

Regardless of any controversy surrounding the first goal, we didn't look dangerous and struggled to create any real opportunities, often reverting to the dreaded long ball which warrants a collective groan from the Red and White faithful.

 This 'contingency plan' (which is often a result of our defence being pressured) is not going to help anyone and we've got to focus on implementing a variety of tactics if things aren't going our way, instead of panicking into a wild turnover of possession.

Looking at the past two matches, it's a shame that we didn't seize our opportunity to make a statement against the top two sides, but it's a useful lesson to learn from.

We've now played 16 league matches (against every team except Sydney), it's time for us to take control of our season, be accountable for our results and confidently thrust aside the 'time to jell' tag.

This Wednesday away in Wellington, we face another mighty test, perhaps one that we'll be better prepared for.

If we've learnt anything from the top sides, we'll be able to get back to the basics, avoid that dreaded long ball and rekindle our positive charge towards finals football.