Another week has come upon us, and another weekend of football has just left us. While we have 5 more days until we have Premier League on our screens once again, we do have the boot spotting here to get your week started! With a bunch of new boots, some very interesting boot switches and the odd customised boot spot in our boot spotting today, it is almost certainly the way to get your lowdown on the biggest spots in the football world this week. Check out what will have the boot world talking this week.
Xabi Alonso (Bayern Munich) – adidas Predator Instinct
So I am sure that if adidas had a choice, they would not have wanted to see this happening. Despite being given special access to the third generation 11Pro ahead of its launch on Friday, Xabi Alonso decided to bring out the Predator Instinct for Bayern’s game on Saturday against Hoffenheim. With Toni Kroos also opting for his customised second-gen adiPure 11Pro, it was not a great launch weekend for the new 11Pro. Nevertheless, we think the new tech involved with the 11Pro is a positive step from adidas and it is a boot we cannot wait to test out.
Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) – Puma evoPOWER 1 (Custom)
There is something that does not quite seem to be right with this boot spot. Olivier Giroud made his return to the Arsenal side this weekend, and the ex-evoSPEED man was spotted in the Pool Green/White/Grenadine/Turbulence evoPOWER as he came off the bench to score a late consolation goal for the Gunners. However, his boots do not seem to feature the standard AccuFoam vamp inserts, which are normally quite distinguishable as they rise above the rest of the upper. Perhaps he is wearing the leather evoPOWER that does not come with the inserts, but we would even consider going for a Hail Mary and say he could be wearing a hybrid between the evoPOWER and the evoSPEED.
Thiago Mendes (Athletico Madrid) – adidas 11Pro
Even though the two anticipated big boys of the 11Pro did not come to adidas’ need, there was still quite a few players around Europe who rocked the 11Pro. One of those was Thiago Mendes, and he has opted for the 11Pro in the Core Black/White/Flash Orange launch colourway. It seems every player we have seen in the new 11Pro has decided to go fro the black launch colourway. Maybe they did not go for the alternative White/Flash Orange/Black colourway because of its ridiculously strange likeness to the Tiempo V…
Shinji Okazaki (Japan) – Mizuno Basara 1
You could almost be forgiven for thinking that Mizuno have only two football boots on the market (the Morelia Neo and the Wave Ignitus III). The Mizuno Basara 1 does not get the same attention as its two siblings, but it is still an interesting boot that captures our interest either way. Shinji Okazaki showed off a yet to be released Basara colourway in Japan’s 2-1 win over Australia, and he scored a cracking back heel to give the boot a dose of the football limelight.
David De Gea (Manchester United) – Puma evoSPEED 1.3
Right, so maybe De Gea has not quite settled down on a pair of boots yet. After snapping him up in the Predator Instinct last week whilst training for Spain (a pair of boots that would have complemented his adidas gloves), the keeper has jumped back into the evoSPEED 1.3 for United’s clash against Arsenal on the weekend. It is hard to say where De Gea is going to go now, but we think De Gea should keep changing into the evoSPEED more often, he had a monster game against Arsenal after switching into the evoSPEED and he had an equally impressive game against Chelsea when he wore the evoSPEED for the very first time.
Esteban Cambiasso (Leicester City) – adidas Nitrocharge 1.0
To coincide with the launch of the new 11Pro, adidas also lifted the lid on a Black/Orange Nitrocharge 1.0 colourway, the first Nitrocharge to feature a two-tone upper (a standard feature on boots like the Tiempo V). We noted the other week that the falling number of players in the Nitrocharge means that there are not too many games where players are wearing Nitrocharges, but Cambiasso was our saving grace as he traded in his adiPure 11Pros for the new Nitrocharge colourway.
Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls) – New Balance
The New Balance emergence continues on, and it seems they are getting stronger by the week. After Aaron Ramsey had the honour of being the first player to unveil Warrior…I mean New Balance as being the behind the mysterious boot being shown off by several EPL players, Tim Cahill (another ex-Warrior endorsee might we add) joins the growing list of players rocking white or blackout boots. With Vincent Kompany also making the switch into blackout New Balance boots this week, we think it is only a matter of time until New Balance reveal their hand.
Gonzalo Pineda (Seattle Sounders) – adidas Nitrocharge 1.0 Crazylight
Did you know the Crazylight was only unveiled a month ago by adidas? I know, crazy right? There has been so many releases since then, but the spotlight on the Crazylight has come and gone rather quickly. Gonzalo Pineda did his bit to get the Crazylight range featured in our boot spotting this week, with the defensive midfielder opting for the Nitrocharge incarnation of the Crazylight range.
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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