Boot spotting: 22nd October

Thank God that international break is over and done with. Premier League football is back with a bang, and with it has come a flood of brilliant boot spots. You can rely on Soccer Reviews to show you the best boot spots, week in week out, without fail, and not only do we guarantee being the first website on the planet to give you your weekly boot spotting fix, you always know we only include only the highest quality spots. Take a look at what caught our eye this week…

Danny Welbeck (Manchester United) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII

We have seen our fair share of boot switches this year, but it seems very few players have been able to permanently stick with a boot. While Danny Welbeck started the season in the Nike T90 Laser IV, he wore adidas miCoach F50 adiZero in training and made the switch a few weeks ago. Now Welbeck has moved on, this time to the ACC collection Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII against Stoke. That is the England striker’s 3rd pair of boots this season, and it will be interesting to see how long this boot switch is going to last.

Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo) – Puma EvoSpeed I

It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month worldwide, and while adidas have let a few athletes customise their boots to promote a worthy cause (we will check out a few of those spots a bit later on), Puma actually released a brand new boot just for breast cancer awareness month. While many athletes have been very slow in updating their Puma EvoSpeed Is, Brian Ching has gone out of his way to get a hold of the special EvoSpeed I colour way.

Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII

It was billed as one of the biggest boot switches of the season so far, but it seems Mesut Ozil’s move to the adidas Predator LZ was little more than a flirt with the rival boot. The German appeared in Nike’s ‘My Time Is Now’ commercial and was seen in the proceeding weeks wearing both Predator LZs and miCoach F50 adiZeros, but he came out wearing the ACC collection Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII. This suggests that Ozil perhaps did not sign a contract extension, but it will be interesting what happens over the next few weeks.

Mario Balotelli (Manchester City) – Nike CTR360 Maestri III

The new CTR360 Maestri III has been hugely popular, and we have seen flashes of black and yellow Nike football boots all over the pitches of Europe. The new White/Green/Volt colour way has been just as successful, and despite the Italian wearing the updated colour way for Italy during the international break, he strangely went back to the original launch colour way this weekend. It could be little more than Balotelli being superstitious, but Nike will be happy as long as he wears something from the CTR range.

Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders) – adidas Predator LZ (Custom)

Remember how we mentioned Brian Ching is wearing a special pair of pink Puma EvoSpeed Is for Breast Cancer Awareness Month? adidas allowed some of their high profile athletes to do more than the average MLS footballer sticking pink laces on their boots and giving them access to their own miadidas football boots. Montero has kept a nice simple design for his adidas Predator LZs, and he also had his boots customised with his wife’s name on the side of his boots.

Travis Dodd (Perth Glory) – Nike T90 Laser IV KL (Custom)

It is a design that might divide the masses, but we think Travis Dodd might have the coolest pair of boots ever. With hand painted aboriginal patterning, Travis Dodd is showing off his indigenous Australian roots with his customised pair of T90 Laser IVs. Travis Dodd is no stranger to having aboriginal inspired football boots, and it is fantastic to see a footballer go through the effort that Dodd has gone through.

Edgar Davids (Barnet) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII

Despite being 39 years old, retiring after his second spell with Ajax in 2008 then returning in 2010 to play with Crystal Palace in a pay-as-you-play deal, it seems Edgar Davids could not be kept from the football pitch again, sensationally coming out of retirement to join League 2 side Barnet as a player-manager. The Dutchman rolled back the years during his debut game against Northampton, and it would be strange to see Davids in anything but Nike boots. The seaweed Vapor VIII is the boot of choice for Davids as he settles in to life at Barnet.

Albert Adamoah (Bristol City) – Puma V1.815 Ferrari

We do not understand footballers who play in limited edition football boots. Okay, so maybe I am guilty in playing with my Nike GS on a regular basis, but they are not as rare as Albert Adamoah’s Puma V1.815 Ferrari boots! Limited to only 815 pairs worldwide and weighing in at an incredible 165 grams, the V1.815 is the absolute epitome of a classy football boot. In a similar move, Puma will release a special edition Ducati EvoSpeed that will be released in a few months time, something we think will get many people excited.

Kenny Cooper (New York Red Bulls) – adidas Predator LZ (Custom)

While we cannot help but think that Kenny Cooper was not overly creative when creating his customised pair of Predator LZs for Breast Cancer Awareness Month (he might have taken a sneak peek at what Fredy Montero was designing), but Breast Cancer Awareness Month is virtually the only time of year where you can get away with wearing pink boots and not get criticised. It is fantastic to see these footballers come together for such a good cause.

Masoud Shojaei (Iran) – Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII

We always love it when a footballer gets creative when they customise their own football boots, but we cannot quite understand Masoud Shojaei’s thinking here. NikeID boots can sometimes be the sleekest boots on the pitch (remember Masimo Paci’s awesome whiteout Nike Tiempo Legend IVs a few weeks back?), but we have to go to the opposite end of the scale to mark Masoud Shoejaei’s effort. Perhaps they match with his normal club kit, we are not too sure…

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.