BEST

Hindmarsh a City of Churches haven

13,000 under usual circumstances is nothing to write home about. But given Adelaide's striking woes, hit-and-miss form and the ongoing Marco Kurz saga, a close-to-capacity crowd is a decent feat for Reds fans.

The atmosphere that creates at Hindmarsh clearly has a mammoth effect on an otherwise notably underpowered squad - you only needed to take a glance at Ben Halloran chasing down every ball to see that.

It's no wonder either. Hindmarsh is simply a beautiful location to watch football and as a tradeoff to its smaller size, encapsulates a little more character and, perhaps, a little more soul than the likes of AAMI Park.

No contract? No problem

Since announcing he's got no future at the Reds, Kurz has arguably been a better coach. Go figure. 

Sure, you could argue that his squad - which has reportedly been disheartened at the news of his departure - is simply trying to prove the new owner(s) wrong. But if they loved him so much, surely they wouldn't wait until he gets the flick to start rewarding Adelaide crowds?

The facts remain that over the past few weeks, Adelaide has significantly improved defensively. They look incredibly well organised - easily one of the best shut-out teams in the league. If you cast your mind back to a few defensive shockers (that thriller against Brisbane, anyone?) you'll see just how far they've come.

There have also been a few choice attacking selections on the German gaffers' part - the sudden brilliant inclusion of Stamatetopoulos against the Nix, the use of Halloran tonight - almost as if he's finally resigned to his striking outfit and has decided to get the best out of them.

It's cynical sure, and there's no doubt the FFA Cup winner is a quality coach. But here's hoping he's not just pulling out all the stops for his CV. At the very least, we'd love to see his next gig in the A-League.

George bloody ripper Blackwood

He can knock in a header can't he? Well...we mean, he can...when he wants to....

The more we watch Blackwood the more we're convinced his main problem is jumping for the bloody things in the first place. You only have to look as far back as last weeked against Melbourne City to know that United send in a bucketload of peach crosses each match that George harmlessly watches sail over his head.

It's his own fault, because when he decides to have a go, his quality is blatantly obvious. So obviously he's going to garner a bit of stick. Injuries aside, let's hope he can get a run of games under Adelaide's supposedly youth-focused new owners.

Please, please, just no more half-baked Dutch loanees...

WORST

Troisi's hampering hamstring

The former stalwart Socceroo has been forced into a siderole this season with the arrival of Ola Toivonen and Keisuke Honda, in addition to the phenomenal goalscoring form of Kosta Barbarouses.

But the midfield maestro's importance to Victory is easily understated. The attention given to Victory's current stars tends to afford Troisi a lot of space, which is why when he's on his a-game, he's often had a larger influence.

Unfortunately this influence hasn't been exerted as often as everyone would have liked. But that doesn't mean the hamstring issue that forced his withdrawal after 30 minutes (severity still to be confimed) couldn't have serious ramifications on Victory's finals hopes.

At the very least it's a sign he's not a spring chicken anymore. And to think, we still remember when he was a young lad battling it out at in Italy.

Mr Fix It comes at a cost

Leigh Broxham can do a lot of things. In fact, if you've ever struck a gander at Leigh Broxham facts, you'll know he can just about do anything. But what he can't do is provide an attacking fullback option. What Elvis Kamsoba can't do is provide experienced defensive support to him, either.

All in all, a real weakpoint for the Big V. Anybody seen Daniel Georgievski at the Jets recently? Matt Millar at the Mariners? Even Scott Galloway on the other half of the pitch? Yeah...turns out fullback is pretty important after all.