The stars aligned for us this week. We had a mammoth weekend of football, some huge games in the European competitions and all of that was sandwiched by two much anticipated boot releases. Man it is a great time to be a boot fan. But for now, we wind down our week with the traditional Monday boot spotting courtesy of the Instep. We saw plenty of new boots out there this week, as well as a few other noteworthy boot spots. Check out what caught our eye this week.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly IV CR (Custom)

Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid CR7 Superfly edited

In a week that saw all three of the brands drop the curtain on new boots, we think the buzz that surrounds a CR signature release just about took the cake as the biggest launch of the week. As expected, Ronaldo brought out the boot for the first time for Saturday’s El Clasico at the Bernabeu, and he did his normal thing of scoring with them on as well. It does seem that Ronaldo has once again gone for an altered Dynamic Fit Collar, as his one seems to be a centimeter or two shorter than the normal Dynamic Fit Collar. But either way, we thought CR7’s boots looked outstanding during the highly anticipated clash.

Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) – Puma evoPOWER 1.2

Cesc Fabregas Chelsea evoPOWER edited

El Clasico was not the only big match of the weekend, with United taking on Chelsea in what, a few years ago, would have been a title-deciding tie between the two giants of English football. Puma gave headline athlete Cesc Fabregas the new Pool Green evoPOWER 1.2 just for the game, and their main man delivered with the assist for Didier Drogba’s goal. While we do not mind the new Pool Green colourway by Puma, we think their limited edition boot designs (like the X-Ray evoSPEED 1.3 and the gorgeous Puma King Lux boots) are just that little bit more impressive.

Oscar (Chelsea) – adidas Predator Instinct Crazylight

Oscar Chelsea Predator Crazylight edited

We normally see a pattern when it comes to the brands releasing super light football boots. While they have all the bravado surrounding the launch, very few players opt to go for the boots, with the vast majority of players opting for the standard (albeit heavier) releases. Surprisingly, there has been quite a few players who have decided to go for the boots that make up the Crazylight collection of boots. Oscar was one of the few players to wear the Crazylight version of the Predator Instinct, and adidas have touted the Predator Instinct Crazylight as being 33% lighter than the standard Predator by throwing a Sprintframe construction at the base of the boot.

Philip Lahm (Bayern Munich) – adidas adiPure 11Pro Crazylight

Phillip Lahm Bayern Munich Crazylight adiPure edited

Once again, the number of players who have decided to go for one of the Crazylight releases by adidas has caught us out. Philip Lahm was seen showing off the 11Pro Crazylight during Bayern Munich’s demolition job of Roma. Coming in at 190 grams, the 11Pro still features the same soft leather upper that has a layer of memory foam underneath for a super feel for the ball. This is actually one of the last current 11Pro releases by adidas, with a new generation adiPure to be launched by the end of the year.

James McClean (Wigan) – Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly IV (Custom)

James McClean Wigan custom SF IV edited

I have been writing boot spotting articles on the web for about the last four or five years, and James McClean used to be one of the go-to players whenever I needed a boot spot that little bit more special than the rest. The man loves his boots, and he has been seen rocking everything from the Nike GS, the Vapor MV XV, custom Vapors, custom Hypervenoms, custom F50s, pretty much anything you can imagine! We have not seen sight of him in a little while, but he has now popped up in the Superfly IV. It seems McClean has joined the growing legion of players cutting the top off the Dynamic Fit collar of their SF IVs to perhaps seek a less restrictive fit with their boots.

Koke (Athletico Madrid) – adidas Nitrocharge 1.0 Crazylight

Koke Athletico Madrid Crazylight NC edited

If we had to sum up the player uptake of the adidas Crazylight boots, there was a high number of players in the F50 Crazylight, about the same number of players in the Predator and adiPure Crazylight boots, but only one player who wore the Nitrocharge 1.0 Crazylight. It kind of sounds like the story of the Nitrocharge’s life, with the boot finding it difficult to get player uptake. At least Koke put in a cracking shift for Athletico Madrid while he was wearing the Nitrocharge Crazylight. Maybe the pros were put off with the Nitrocharge Crazylight only shaving 10 grams off the normal model, and considering the standard NC also comes with a Sprintframe outsole, the only difference between the two boots come from the Crazylight featuring a thinner upper.

Bakary Sako (Wolverhampton Wonderers) – Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly IV (Custom)

Bakary Sako Wolves custom SF IV edited

Everyone loves a good custom boot spot right? Fresh off the bat of last week with Paul Pogba being the first player spotted in a customised Magista Obra, Bakary Sako becomes the first player spotted with his own custom Mercurial Vapor Superfly IV. The Wolves attacking midfielder has, well, gone for a rather bold and perhaps borderline arrogant NikeiD boot in choosing gold as the primary colour of the boot. To us, it is a modern day reincarnation of the Gold/Black Mercurial Vapor II released way back in 2005. Oh how we would love to see those boots hit the football pitch once again…

That is it for our boot spotting today, what was your favourite spot this week? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,