Boot spotting: 17th September

So are all of us happy that Premier League football is back? We think the international break came at an unfortunate time, but having some proper league football back this week makes us appreciate EPL even more! Plus we have our regular raft of boot spots back, and we have some fascinating spots from this weekend’s football action. Take a look at the hottest boot spots that caught our eye this week.

Luis Suarez (Liverpool) – adidas miCoach F50 adiZero

Even though Luis Suarez was seen flirting with the adidas adiZero RS7 Pro during the offseason when he was representing Uruguay at the Olympics, it seems the striker has decided to stick with his tried and tested miCoach F50 adiZero. But the international break has seen Suarez change his boots, who is now wearing the White/Lime/Onix colour way when he was previously wearing the Red/White/Blue colour way. The change has done Suarez some good, he scored in his first game in the new boots.

Eder Citadin Martins (Sampdoria) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII

We always wonder how some footballers manage to get their equipment before everyone else. We are not expecting to see the Turquoise Blue/Orange Vapor VIII start hitting the football pitches of Europe until very late this month at the earliest, so it is a surprise to see that Eder Citadin Martins is already breaking in his new pair of boots. It is definitely the brightest Vapor VIII we have seen so far that comes with the leather-like finish, and it will be interesting to see the reception these boots get.

James McClean (Sunderland) – adidas miCoach F50 adiZero

Could James McClean secretly be a football boot fanatic? He wore the very rare Nike GS last week and has been seen in a wide variety of boots in the past 12 months (including some customised miCoach F50 adiZeros and Vapor VIIIs) and James McClean has again showed us his football boot repertoire this week in the Black/Infared/Pink graphic adiZero. McClean is the first player we have seen in the Black/Infared/Pink adiZero, and we certainly hope he is not the last.

Lee Novak (Huddersfield Town) – Nike CTR360 Trequartista III (Custom)

It was always going to be easy to find some wonderful colour combinations of the CTR360 Trequartista III if you threw some colours together in NikeID, and we think Lee Novak is on to a real winner when it comes to his White/Yellow/Black CTR360 Trequartista III. Novak’s boots look a bit like the next CTR360 Maestri III that will be released soon, which is a predominantly white boot that uses green as the secondary colour and sporting a yellow Nike tick.

Phillip Lahm (Bayern Munich) – adidas adiPure 11Pro

There have been very few footballers who have stayed loyal to the adiPure range, and while fellow Bayern Munich team mate Bastian Schweinsteiger has a pair of adiPure IIIs disguised as adiPure 11Pros, it is unknown whether Lahm has been rewarded with the same treatment. Either way, Lahm became one of the first few European footballers seen in the new Black/Infared colour way, a nasty colour way that we think is a nice modern twist on heritage boots.

Massimo Paci (AC Siena) – Nike Tiempo Legend IV (Custom)

Talk about having a clean pair of football boots, while very few whiteout football boots are released to the general public (the miCoach F50 adiZero and the limited edition PowerCat 1.12 comes to mind), we would love to see Nike break the shackles and release a whiteout Tiempo Legend IV similar to Massimo Paci’s customised boots. While they may be a horror to keep clean, there is no denying how gorgeous they look!

Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton) – Under Armour 10k Force Pro II

Under Armour have slowly but surely increased the number of footballers wearing their boots over the past 12 months. The American base layer company has made a strong move into the football market, and while Benoit Asso-Ekotto is still undecided over their power boot, it seems Brighton’s Mackail-Smith has fallen for the boot. Mackail-Smith was subject to one or two rumours regarding to a move to the EPL during the summer, so if one of these deals work out in the next transfer window, we could see CMS become another UA endorser in the EPL.

Jonathan Woodgate (Middlesbrough) – adidas Predator LZ SL

There is definitely an overwhelming preference amongst the footballers in Europe towards the regular Predator LZ, but you do find your occasional footballer who goes against the grain for the SL edition, like Jonathan Woodgate. While the major difference between the two models is the SprintSkin upper on the SL edition, we found the LZ SL to be an unspectacular boot when we reviewed it earlier this year.

Waleed Salim (Iraq) – Mizuno Estrela Neo

We know it may be a boot spot from the midweek international football action, but we think this boot spot is too good to miss. While support for the Morelia Neo is slowly growing, it is very rare to see a footballer in what is seen as the takedown model of the boot. The Estrela Neo has an upper that is a combination of washable Kangaroo Leather, synthetic leather and synthetic resin, plus it weighs only a little bit more than the Morelia Neo. It is a boot that is exclusive to the Asian football market, but it is a boot we are definitely curious about.

Scott Golbourne (Barnsley) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII (Custom)

We saw Hugo Rodallega in his own customised pair of Mercurial Vapor VIIIs a few weeks ago, and while his all blue Vapor VIIIs did not really fit his Fulham kit, we can see the colour co-ordination in Scott Golbourne’s Black/Red Vapor VIIIs. The simple design looks absolutely fantastic, and while we know no other similar colour ways will be released onto the Vapor VIII, it is a sign that Nike do not need to take a boot design to the extremes to find a good looking boot.

One last note, Colorado Rapids footballer Omar Cummings is said to have worn the Pele Sports Trinity from the SheOne collection, but we could not find pictures of it. We will look our for it next week though! Until then, what was your favourite boot spot this week?