Boot spotting: 20th August

With the new season now underway, it is certainly a happy place at the moment at Soccer Reviews. The first games of the season have also given us a decent stock of new and interesting boot spots. Take a look at the boot spots that made our harsh criteria this week!

Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII

It was arguably the biggest boot switch of the off season, but it seems that Mesut Ozil’s time wearing the adidas Predator LZ may have just been a flash in the pan and not a permanent switch from the Mercurial Vapor VIII, as the German wore the lightweight boots in Real Madrid’s first game of the season against Valencia. We will keep an eye on developments, perhaps adidas will try and sign their man later this season again.

Danny Welbeck (Machester United) – adidas Predator LZ

So could this mean that adidas attempts to lure a star wearing the T90 Laser IV to switch to the Predator LZ? adidas may see Mesut Ozil as a lost cause, so perhaps they have now concentrated efforts on a potential switch by Danny Welbeck to the Predator range. Spotted in the Predator LZ in training late last week, we will be keeping our eyes peeled tomorrow night to see what he wears against Everton.

Gylfi Sigurdsson (Tottenham) – Nike CTR360 Maestri III

With every boot release comes the almost certainty of several professionals ditching their old boots in favour for the new release, and Gylfi Sigurdsson has seemingly been attracted by what the CTR360 Maestri III can offer. While the ex-Swansea player wore adidas miCoach F50 adiZeros during his time at the Welsh club, he has traded them in for the Nike’s updated ‘Control’ boot. It is also interesting Sigurdsson has gone against the grain in picking the alternative colour way of the boot.

Mahamadou Diarra (Fulham) – adidas Predator LZ (Custom)

Not everybody wants to go for the boot that everyone else is wearing, so why not make a boot of your own? Mahamadou Diarra looks like a picky person when it comes to his football boots, and the Fulham midfielder has picked out his own pair of customised White/Black pair of Predator LZs. We do heavily suspect that Diarra chose the colours to match with his Fulham kit, but we think they look brilliant!

Luis Fernando Saritama (Ecuador) – adidas Predator LZ

How did Luis Fernando Saritama get his hands on these boots? As a part of the unveiling of the Predator LZ, adidas ran a special advertising campaign that highlighted each of the ‘Lethal Zones’ on the new Predator, with Predator-endorsees wearing a special boot that highlighted certain sections of the boot. We are not sure whether Saritama was one of the footballers chosen to promote the ‘Sweetspot’ section of the boot, but the Ecuadorian is playing with a very limited edition boot!

Claudio Yacob (West Brom) – Nike T90 Laser IV KL

After the release of the new Nike GS and CTR360 Maestri III, it might be fair to say that everyone has overlooked the new boot colour ways that have been released by Nike and adidas for the start of the new season! Despite it being a part of the new ‘Black Pack’ for Nike, the new Black/Orange/Blue has had very little in the way of player uptake, with most footballers keeping with the ‘Clash’ White/Green T90 Laser IV. Claudio Yacob is actually the first footballer we have seen in the new colour way, and we will be checking to see if Rooney will be wearing the boots on Monday night.

Charles N’Zogbia (Aston Villa) – adidas DB Predator adiPower

While everyone may be settling into a new pair of boots for the new season, it does not necessarily mean everyone is wearing a recently released boot. Despite the launch of the Predator LZ, Charles N’Zogbia is sticking by the boot’s predecessor, the DB Predator adiPower to be precise. Despite Taurus leather being a fairly popular material, N’Zogbia has opted for the DB option that is instead built with a lightweight synthetic upper.

Hugo Rodallega (Fulham) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII (Custom)

Could customised boots be the new trend at Fulham? Not only has Mahamadou Diarra stepped out onto Craven Cottage on the first day of the season in a pair of customised boots, but new signing Hugo Rodallega has kicked off the new season in an all-blue pair of Mercurial Vapor VIIIs. We do suspect that the former Wigan man’s Vapors come with the new leather-like finish, but Rodallega was known through his Wigan days to wear customised boots.

Fricson Erazo (Ecuador) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII (Custom)

Custom boots may just be the order of this week’s boot spotting. Not only did the Ecuador team give us the Predator LZ spotting above, but their friendly in New York last week also saw Fricson Erazo bring out these customised Red/Yellow pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor VIIIs. The boots match quite nicely with his kit, so we can sort of see where Erazo is taking his NikeID creation!

That is it for this week’s boot spotting. What was your favourite spot this week? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.