A Look at the ‘Little’ Boots in the Football Market

Article by: Harrison Mamin (for Soccer Reviews application)

The recent releases of several cleats that fall on the more technical side of the boot spectrum have elicited a wide variety of responses. The Zygo Deztruct, Under Armour Hydrastrike, and Diadora Solano, among others, could reveal a new direction in the industry. While many of the big brands continue the same cleat lines they’ve had for years, other companies are starting to try out new ideas in an effort to convert customers. While it’s impressive to see the constantly decreasing weights in the superlight market, it’s exciting to think where innovation could take us in other categories.

While the Deztruct still deals with the fairly traditional power category (albeit in slightly different way), the Solano appears to have a major focus on breathability. The Hydrastrike and another UA offering, the Blur, also take on issues such as moisture control, lateral cuts, and odor prevention. These areas all have a lot of room for improvement, and perhaps now more companies will give them increased attention.

That’s not to say these newly released boots are perfect. Some of them seem to have had trouble attracting players, both professional and otherwise, and we’re still waiting to see more performance reviews come out. Personally, I’m not impressed with the appearance of many of these boots. But that’s not even the point. For one thing, style evolves and we should have realistic expectations for the first edition of a line. Looking at the evolution of the Adidas Predator, we can really see the aesthetic evolve into the refined design of the Adipower. The technology is integrated so much more smoothly in the latest edition. So even if the Deztruct doesn’t fit your style now, there’s still hope for the future. Even more than that, though, is just the idea of innovation that these cleats encourage. Part of innovation is giving people what they want before they know they want it, and that means a huge risk for a company. Every time they introduce a crazy new idea, there’s the possibility that it could fall flat. But there’s also the chance to create something special, a whole new category of boots that could stick around for years. I’d rather see a few attempts at incredible innovation fall flat than continue seeing the same safe, boring cleats year after year – eventually, these efforts will pay off.

It looks like Adidas is getting into the spirit too, taking a huge risk with the Adipure 11pro in modernizing a classic. I’m encouraged to see this kind of move from a mainstream company, and I think they will handle it very well. Nike can continue updating the Tiempo, but I think they will be more cautious because they don’t have another traditional boot (like Adidas has the Copa Mundial) to fall back on.

Regardless, this spirit of innovation and creativity can only bring good things to the soccer community. (Personally, I’m hoping for bespoke cleats.) There will be more options to choose from, improved features, new designs – and that’s just the beginning.

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