Weeks in the football boot world do not get much bigger than the week we just had. With three massive boot launches, midweek European fixtures and a big week of Premier League, we normally do not get much better weeks than that! The Instep has your first and best round up of the big boot spots from the weekend and midweek games, from the big boot switches, custom boots and everything in between, take a look at what caught our eye this week…
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – Nike Mercurial Vapor IX CR
While it is hard to name the biggest boot release from the week just past, my award for the most stunning and sophisticated boot has to be the new Mercurial Vapor IX CR. Cristiano brought the boot out for the first time in what is the biggest fixture in Spanish football, the El Clasico. Ronaldo may not have got the result he wanted, but the boot certainly looked stunning under the floodlight of Camp Nou, and we are sure we will see Ronaldo score his first goal in the boot sooner rather than later.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – adidas F50 adiZero TRX (Custom)
While the Galaxy Vapor may have been the best looking colourway of the week, we still have to give credit to the new Enlightened range of adidas boots that came out this week. Adidas ensured Messi still got in on the fun, with adidas giving the star a one off edition of his signature colourway where the laces and three adidas stripes have been coated with the reflective material. Messi has been wearing his signature colourway for quite a while now, but we expect him to be seen in the next F50 adiZero very soon…
Xavi (Barcelona) – adidas Predator LZ II
When you put a classy black and white colourway onto a boot that carries a name reeking with tradition, you are always going to be left with a stunning boot! There were plenty of players who brought out the Enlightened pack Predator LZ during the midweek Champions League fixtures, with Xavi being one of them. The Enlightened pack of boots was meant to be a one off only to be worn in the Champions League, but Xavi wore the boots in Barcelona’s triumph over Real Madrid on the weekend. With two successive wins wearing the boots, it might take Xavi a bit of convincing to let the boots go.
Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory) – adidas F50 adiZero TRX Yamamoto
Then we hit the release of the week that probably dropped the most jaws and drew the most bewildered response. You do not see many boot releases like the special Yamamoto F50 adiZero, and while they are limited to just 2,000 pairs, Archie Thompson has been given the honor of being the only athlete in the A-League allowed to wear the boots on behalf of adidas. Thompson signed up with adidas earlier this month, and he put in a cool assist for James Troisi whilst wearing the Yamamoto F50.
Adlene Guedioura (Crystal Palace) – Nike Hypervenom Phantom (Custom)
Nothing quite says class like a whiteout boot, and that seems to be something Adlene Goedioura believes in! While we to see a white Hypervenom colourway, Guedioura has worked his way around the problem by getting a customised pair of on NikeiD. In saying that, we never see Nike release whiteout boots, but the result is certainly a stunning one in the case of the Hypervemom. So, message to Nike: start churning out whiteout boots!
Dani Alves (Barcelona) – adidas miCoach F50 adiZero
While a lot of players switched into new boots this weekend, the most intriguing boot switch is certainly Dani Alves making the strange move to the old second generation F50 adiZero. Alves has been front and centre in the promotion of the recently released Nitrocharge, but the Barcelona full back took a step back in wearing the old F50 adiZero. It has been highly publicized that Alves wears a Nitrocharge customised with a Sprintskin upper, but maybe Alves wanted to settle for the lightness of the adiZero against speed machines in the form of Ronaldo and Bale for El Clasico.
Kolo Toure (Liverpool) – adidas Predator LZ II
While the jump between the Predator LZ and the LZ II was not a huge one, Kolo Toure has been sitting pretty with the launch colourway of the original LZ since the start of the season. Toure has finally updated his boots to the Blue/White/Orange LZ II, and now that I think of it, there are certainly some similarities that can be drawn between the design of the original launch LZ and the new LZ II colourway…
Jose Angel Crespo (Bologna) – Nike Mercurial Vapor IX (Custom)
Edlene Guedioura was not the only one seen hitting up NikeiD this week, and he also was not the only one seen walking away with a white pair of boots! Nothing really says flashy like a white pair of boots (okay, maybe the Enlightened pack takes that to the next level), but there is something about a white pair of Vapor IXs that makes us fall weak at the knees. We think Crespo’s Vapors seem to be inspired by the White/Blue Vapor IV released way back in 2008, which is still one of my favourite Mercurial colourways of all time. I guess the secondary launch colourway of the Vapor VIII was pretty close to it though…
That is it for our boot spotting this week, what was your favourite spot this week? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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