I find it strange that blockstream hold up Visa as the holy grail in terms of transaction throughput and the need for Bitcoin to adopt sidechains so they can reach these levels.

So many lines or worthless FUD and yet still not one fucking clue about what sidechains are about.
So sidechains are not about facilitating a greater number of transactions? Do explain. You sound like you are getting frustrated.
No, for the 1000th million times, sidechains are not about scaling Bitcoin.
They're about augmenting its features and capabilities.
Never have I seen sidechains be proposed as an actual solution to scaling Bitcoin so I'm not certain how that holds true.
If my understanding is correct the proofs used in their concept to move coins between chains are in fact competing with transactions for space in blocks so it makes absolutely no sense to propose they profit from undue advantage by restricting block growth.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=68655.msg12170746#msg12170746