Manchester City languished, Barcelona struggled, Manchester United may have re-found their groove, the Chelsea machine steamed on ahead, oh and we had time for a few internationals as well, plus the launch of the Nike Magista. That sums up the week of football that we just had, and it was a half decent one! But what about summing it all up from a boot spotting perspective? Well, it is Monday, and the Instep is your only place to get your first and best dose of the world’s best boot spots. From custom boots to boot switches, from England to Japan, check out what made the Instep cut this week!
Daniel Sturridge (England) – Nike Hypervenom Phantom
He is arguably England’s hottest striker this season, but Nike probably have not been too impressed that the on fire Daniel Sturridge has not been keeping tabs with the latest Nike Hypervenom Phantom colourways. In fact, Sturridge has bullishly stuck with the Hi Vis Hypervenom from last year. But Sturridge has finally updated his boots to the new Black/Volt/Blue, which is playing second fiddle to the Neo Lime/Black colourway. With a lack of players in the colourway, perhaps Nike will change their mind on Sturridge if he boosts sales for the alternative Hypervenom colourway.
Oscar (Brazil) – adidas Predator LZ II
First it was the Samba pack, now it is the Carnavale pack. In a week where Nike dominated the headlines with the Nike Magista launch, adidas tried to land themselves a little bit of the spotlight with the Carnavale pack and the Primeknit FS (which was conveniently pushed out on the morning of the Magista launch, what a coincidence hey>). While we do think the Primeknit FS launch was a bit…hurried, the limited edition Carnavale pack is just one of the packs adidas will be releasing between now and the end of the year. Fittingly, Oscar wore the new boot for Brazil’s friendly against South Africa, but he was back in the Samba Predator for Chelsea’s game against Tottenham on the weekend.
Francesca Kirby (England) – Nike Premier
If I had to put my finger on the most underrated boot on the market at the moment, it would have to be the Nike Premier. A soft buttery leather upper, gorgeous heritage looks, plus an affordable price tag, it is truly hard to knock the Premier. While the Black/White colourway is the only common colourway that has been released for the boot, a rather nifty pack of red, blue and yellow Premiers were released last year by Nike, each shouting out to the World Cup achievements of England, France and Brazil respectively. Rather ironically, Francesca Kirby represented England in the France edition of the boot, but the England colourway would not only have matched her kit, it would have been a symbolic match too!
Ashkan Dejagah (Fulham) – Nike Mercurial Vapor IX
At last, a Premier League player has been spotted in the 2002 Mercurial Vapor remake! With so many players stubbornly sticking by the 1998 throwback Mercurial, Ashkan Dejagah has broken away from the masses to go for the boot made famous by the original Ronaldo. Showing off a smart chrome finish, Dejagah’s boots is part 2 of a 4 part series by Nike that brings classic Vapors back to the modern day. The last remaining chapters of the series will be unveiled this week, and I unashamedly admit that I have already shotgunned the 2010 Vapor for myself…
Dogan Erdogan (Turkey) – adidas Predator LZ SL II
Adidas brought a little bit of Samba flair to the Predator LZ SL II with the launch of the white and black LZ SLs with a splatter of colour over the ‘Lethal Zones’ of the boots, but Dogan Erdogan is the first player we have seen trying out the black version of the Samba colourway. Combining the ‘Lethal Zones’ with a Sprintskin upper, the mix of speed and control has not tempted too many players, but it is nice to see Dogan Erdogan try something a little different.
Wout Droste (Cambuur Leeuwarden) – Nike CTR360 Maestri III (Custom)
In the week where the hugely popular Nike CTR360 Maestri range has been discontinued (remember when we found it to be the most popular boot in the EPL back at the start of the season?), it is fitting we squeeze the CTR into our boot spotting this week. Except Wout Droste’s CTRs are not your normal release boots, but rather the subject of what seems to be professional blacking out job. Droste has kept a few of the 3D pass pads on the instep, the heel of the boot and the Nike tick untouched, so Droste’s boots are not really a blackout, but we like the pops of orange and white around the boot!
Yasuhito Endo (Japan) – Umbro ID
This is one boot spot that left me scratching my head my head this week. Yasuhito Endo stepped out onto the pitch in a mysterious Umbro boot that we certainly have not seen hit the European or American markets. We could perhaps be looking at an Asian market exclusive Umbro boot, but it does seem that Endo’s boots come with a leather upper, with the black sections of the boot providing support to the upper à la the A-Frame on the Umbro Geometra Pro II.
Salomon Rondon (Zenit St. Petersburg) – Nike Hypervenom Phantom (Custom)
Black and volt, that has become a pretty modern colour combination has it not? Salomon Rondon decided to bring those colours together on his NikeiD Hypervenom Phantoms, and they look pretty damn sharp! While Nike are releasing some pretty flashy colourways coming in to the World Cup, those who are on the look out for predominantly black boots should keep an eye out for the blackout pack of boots Nike are releasing in the summer, and there are certainly some good looking boots getting released in that pack…
That is it for our boot spotting today, what was your favourite spot this week? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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