It is Monday, that means only one thing: review the week of football just past with the latest boot spotting courtesy of the Instep! This week saw a few players bring out a new pair of boots, a few very nice customised boots and sadly, one disastrous attempt at customising boots. Either way, we only collect the best boot spots from the football world, check out what made the boot spotting cut this week.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG) – Nike Hypervenom Phantom
The Orange/Black colourway of the Hypervenom Phantom has been at the centre of attention since the boot was launched a few months ago, with the ‘Stealth pack’ colourway and the Black/Lime Green colourway given hardly any exposure on the world stage. However, Nike officially launched the boot earlier this week at a Hypervenom event in Paris, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic headlining a list of players bringing out the boots for the first time this weekend. We noted a few weeks ago that Nike should make the most of Ibrahimovic in the Hypervenom considering the pedigree of the Swede, so it is not surprising he is now arguably seen as one of the headline athletes for the boot.
Santi Cazola (Arsenal) – Puma evoSPEED 1.2
We noted in our boot spotting last week that a potential switch to the Puma evoSPEED was on the cards for Santi Cazola, and Puma officially announced the signing of the Spanish playmaker last week. It has been a while since Puma have announced signing new athletes, but it seems the signing is a tactical one. Considering Puma will be supplying Arsenal’s kit next season, Puma probably saw this as a reason to give the evoSPEED to one of Arsenal’s main men.
Robin Van Persie (Manchester United) – adidas F50 adiZero TRX (Custom)
While Gerrard seems a little unsure about his boots, it seems RVP has finally come to peace when it comes to his kickers. The United striker wore the slime Predator adiPower when he claimed the Golden Boot last season, but he has now settled with the F50 adiZero, albeit a version of the boot with a customized sole plate. Adidas have rewarded Van Persie with his own customized colourway to match his United kit, and they still carry the same sole plate from the Predator adiPower TRX. Considering United are yet to score with RVP wearing the boots and that RVP is known to be superstitious, we could see Robin ditch the boots next week…
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) – adidas Predator LZ II
Okay, I know I cannot make any promises, but considering this is the third week in a row that Gerrard has made the boot spotting, I think he has had his fair share of the boot spotting limelight. We were shocked to see the Liverpool skipper in the adidas Nitrocharge 1.0 last week, yet he has switched back into his regular Predator LZ II for Liverpool’s weekend fixture against United. While we are not sure whether Gerrard is suffering from the same blister issue that blighted him through the pre-season, we wonder how much longer we will see Gerrard switching his boots.
Steven Fletcher (Sunderland) – Umbro Geometra Pro II
Last week, we revealed the Nike CTR360 Maestri as the most popular boot in the EPL. Amazingly, a touch over 95% of EPL players in the first week wore either adidas, Nike or Puma boots, so it is always nice when a few footballers go against the grain with their new boots. Fletcher wore Nike Vapor IXs in the tail-end of last season, but the striker has since switched to the Umbro Geometra Pro. Andre Wisdom is the only other notable endorser of the Geometra Pro, so it is good to see the boot get more exposure on the world stage.
Alex Kenyon (Morcambe) – adidas Predator LZ II (Custom)
While adidas have been a little on the adventurous side with the colourways they have launched onto their new Predator LZ II, we wonder whether adidas understand simple colourways are often what we really want. Take Alex Kenyon’s customized Predator LZ IIs. Kenyon has gone with a simple black and white Predator LZ II that we think looks absolutely gorgeous. It also makes Kenyon’s boots look like a traditional old time Predator, something that makes it that little bit more awesome.
Graham Dorrans (West Brom) – Nike Hypervenom Phantom (Custom)
Besides James McClean and Nick Blackman, everyone is going for the stock standard colourways of the Nike Hypervenom Phantom. Thankfully for us boot spotters, Graham Dorrans has decided to be much more original with his pair of Hypervenoms, with a NikeiD White/Blue creation. We are not expecting to see a white Hypervenom until at least the end of this year, and Dorrans’ boots are pretty close to the product Nike will be releasing themselves. A Hi-Viz colourway is the next Hypervenom to step up to the plate, and it is a colourway that may polarize boot fans…
Wallace (Flamengo) – adidas Predator LZ II (Custom)
We truly wonder when players will get the message: blacking out your boots with a black permanent marker just does not work! It looks like Wallace has gone DIY on his Predator LZ, and it seems the midfielder has abandoned the project half way through the job. The result? A relatively black boot that has a weird alien-like mutation on the toe. For those of you who want to try it for yourselves, just note that changing the colour of your boots does void e warranty that comes with the boots, so if you do it, perhaps try it on a pretty old pair of boots first.
That is it for our boot spotting this week, what was your favourite spot today? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
at 08:58
Ibrahimovic boots has a central lacing system.and it also have 7 lace holes while the hypervenom have 6 lace holes.it seems that he is wearing a mercurial with a Nike skin upper and a
hypervenom design