Boot spotting: 1st October

We may have seen Nike unveil a whole batch of boots last weekend, but it has not meant we have been starved of boot spots this week. New colour ways, boot switches and customised boots were the call of order with this week’s boot spots, and Soccer Reviews has collected the finest boot spots from the week just past. Take a look at the spots that caught our eye this week. Also, to make your viewing experience even better, we now even have an awesome (in our eyes at least…) video accompanying our boot spotting! Please let us know what you think of the video.

Fernando Torres (Chelsea) – Nike T90 Laser IV KL

It was arguably the biggest boot spot of last week, Fernando Torres appearing in a whiteout pair of Tiempo Legend IVs definitely caused a stir through the football boot community. We guessed it would be a one week fling from the Chelsea striker, and it seems we might have been on the money, with Torres making a return to the ‘Clash’ collection T90 Laser IV KL. Torres did score in the T90 Laser IV against Arsenal on the weekend, so he may want to keep the boots that has helped him hit the back of the net.

Robin Van Persie (Manchester United) – adidas Predator adiPower

He may be one of the main faces behind the adidas Predator range, but Robin Van Persie has given adidas quite a headache when it has come to his constant selection of the old adidas Predator adiPower. We are not 100% sure why the Dutchman has held onto his Slime/Indigo/Blue adidas adiPower for so long, but we have a feeling it could be because Van Persie is said to be a superstitious player, that is, he wears the slime adiPower because he was in such hot form when he wore them last year, meaning he considers them his ‘lucky’ football boots.

John Terry (Chelsea) – Umbro Speciali Pro III

It seems another boot switch is imminent, but we think we might have to wait a few days before we see it. Earlier this week, Umbro confirmed they would not be renewing their contract with JT after the Anton Ferdiand debacle, but he decided to continue wearing Umbro boots this week. However, at the end of the game, JT gave his boots to a lucky fan in the crowd, which indicates we may see JT in a different pair of boots in the UCL tie on Tuesday. We will keep an eye out for further developments.

Pepe (Real Madrid) – Nike Tiempo Legend IV

It looks like Umbro might have lost two of their prime endorsers in the space of a week. Fellow Umbro Speciali wearer Pepe made the switch to the similar Nike Tiempo Legend IV this week, and the defender actually scored in his first game in the new boots (and the Nike Tiempo Legend IV is our tip as JT’s next pair of boots). Umbro are definitely losing their big name players at the moment, with Andy Carroll arguably being the biggest name still sticking by Umbro boots.

Pepe Reina (Liverpool) – adidas Predator LZ

The number of players who have made the move to the Predator LZ has been surprising, and it seems adidas have secured a major scalp in the form of Pepe Reina. The Liverpool goalkeeper was one of Joma’s biggest endorsers, they even made a pair of customised boots that depicted the shot stopper. However, the Spaniard wore the Red/White/Black Predator LZ against Norwich on Saturday, which match up rather nicely with his orange keeping uniform.

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) – Nike T90 Laser IV

The launch of the Nike ‘Black Pack’ for the start of the 2012/13 season turned out to be a bit of a failure, with many athletes deciding to stick to the hugely popular ‘Clash’ collection of boots over the boots that were released a few months ago. However, it seems the player uptake for the newly released ACC collection of boots has been pretty high, but Rooney has taken up the new synthetic T90 Laser IV after months of wearing Kanga-Lite T90 Laser IV models.

Brad Friedel (Tottenham) – adidas Predator LZ SL

Goalkeepers are normally quite conservative in their football boots of choice, but Brad Friedel has definitely gone for one of stranger boot choices we have seen for sometime from a goalkeeper! While there are one or two keepers wearing the regular adidas Predator LZ (Petr Cech for one), Friedel is the first keeper we have ever seen in the Predator LZ SL. We do see the occasional goalkeeper wearing lighter football boots, such as Manchester United’s Anders Lindegaard wearing Mercurial Vapor VIIIs.

Junior Hoilett (QPR) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII (Blackout)

It has taken us a little bit of time to work out what Junior Hoilett is wearing here. While the sparky QPR attacking midfielder has been wearing miCoach F50 adiZeros since the start of the season, his blackout boots from his midweek Capital One Cup game has left us scratching our heads. We think that Hoilett is wearing blacked out Mercurial Vapor VIIIs, which we can just about make out due to the SG Pro stud configuration and the general shape of the boot.

Liam Palmer (Tranmere Rovers) – adidas Predator LZ (Custom)

It is pretty easy what Liam Palmer has tried to achieve with his customised Predator LZs here! Matching the colours of the Tranmere home kit, we think Liam Palmer has done a decent job with his customised Predator LZs. Palmer’s LZs follow a similar colour scheme to a Predator LZ colour way that will be released later this year, except the general release colour way will have more yellow detailing on the three stripes and on a few of the zones of the boot.

Aaron Maund (Toronto FC) – Nike Mercurial Vapor IV

If we see a retro Nike Mercurial Vapor spot, we always have to throw it in. While the Mercurial range is going through a Renaissance at the moment, the Mercurial Vapor IV is one of the most successful Vapors of all time back when everybody wanted a pair of Vapor IVs. While the Vapor IV will always be remembered for the stunning Orange Peel Vapor IVs that were made famous by Ronaldo, it is good to see Aaron Maund bring out an old favourite!

Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids) – Pele Sports Trinity SheOne 3E

You would want to avoid wearing a very limited edition boot and make sure you keep it in good condition right? Not according to Colorado Rapids’ Omar Cummings. Cummings is certainly no stranger to our boot spotting articles, being one of very few footballers wearing Pele Sports Trinity 3E boots. As one of Pele Sports main endorsers, Cummings has been able to get his hands on the limited edition Trinity from the Sheone collection, a collaboration between Pele Sports and London-based street artist James Choules, known as SheOne.

Stephen Dobbie (Brighton) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII (Custom)

Sometimes, it is the most simple of boots that look the best, and we absolutely love Stephen Dobbie’s minimalistic White/Black customised Mercurial Vapor VIIIs. While several of the Vapor VIII colour ways released so far are rather bright (I am looking at you Bright Mango Vapor VIIIs!) we think a simple White/Black Vapor VIII similar to Stephen Dobbie’s boots would prove to be very popular with the football boot community!

That is it for our boot spotting article this week. What was your favourite spot this week? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.