After yet another great football week, it's time to look back at the best boot spots once again. Today we bring everything from super nice blackouts, funky custom boots, red cards and a rather big mystery. Sounds interesting? Then this is where you want to continue reading.
Ashley Young (Manchester United) Adidas F50 Adizero Custom Red/White/Black The English winger was among the chosen Adidas stars, who got the honour of designing their very own pair of boots, and he was ready to go with the unique opportunity. He chose the super light Adidas F50 Adizero, in this case the micro fibre version. He went with a Red/White/Black design, hereby matching the Manchester United home kit very well. The unique boots got their début as the red Devils beat Arsenal 2-1 at Old Trafford.
Lukas Podolski (Arsenal) Adidas F50 Adizero Custom Silver/White/Red The London team have had some issues in terms of finding the back of the net this season, and especially their offensive players have had a downward form lately. Podolski hasn't scored a goal since October 3rd and these elegant Adidas F50 Adizero were not able to change that. He has designed the colourway himself and has chosen a slightly subtle look going with silver, white and red colours.
Bacary Sagna (Arsenal) Puma Powercat 1.12 White/Blue The French back suffered yet another fracture to his leg back in May, and has since then struggled to get back to his top level. It seems that he has managed to do so, although he might have forgotten to follow the boot updates and new colourways. During the weekend he went to Old Trafford in a pair of Puma Powercat 1.12 White/Blue, which was the launch colour of the powerful boot.
Nuri Sahin (Liverpool) Nike CTR360 Maestri III ACC White/Volt/Court Green The Turkish midfielder is on a loan from Real Madrid this season, as a result of both Modric and Essien coming to the club. Therefore, he is now playing with Liverpool, where we have seen him on the central midfield, wearing a pair of Nike T90 Laser IV; until now that is. He has now swapped the T90's for the control boot, Nike CTR360 Maestri III ACC White/Volt/Court Green, which we think seems to suit him quite well. Maybe they will help him get more on-pitch time when he returns to Real Madrid? If he returns?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris SG) Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII ACC Retro/Total Orange/Challenge Red The big French club where out to defend their the number one position in Ligue 1 at home at Parc des Princes as Saint Etienne came to visit. They actually succeeded although they lost the game, where an own goal by Sakho and a red card for the man right here, made things rather tough for the home team. If you didn't watch the game I can reveal that Ibrahimovic did not reach the ball with his Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII ACC Retro/Total Orange/Challenge Red in this situation, instead he continued right into the chest of the goalkeeper, and was correctly sent for an early shower.
Maxwell (Paris SG) Adidas F50 Adizero White/Lime/Black The former Barcelona back has been wearing Adidas boots for his entire career, and until now he has preferred the Adipure collection. Just a few weeks ago, he then made the rather surprising change to the Adizero collection, which may include a leather boot, but it is still rather different when compared to the the more classic 11Pro collection. We are not sure why he made the switch; what do you think? And which would you pick?
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) Adidas F50 Adizero Silver/Orange We have to mention that the player currently ranking as the number one in the world has just become the father of a boy, who we think people will be expected quite a lot from. Thiago Messi is the name, and we think it's quite likely, that we are going to be hearing a lot more about him in the future. Anyway, the number 10 was still to be found on the pitch where Celta de Vigo were beaten in a 3-1 win at Camp Nou. The Argentinian didn't find the back of the net himself, but with 13 league goals so far, he is still to be found at the very top spot on the goalscorer list.
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) Adidas F50 Adizero Gold/Black The French attacker had also taken the role as Adidas-designer, and he has been very successful in doing so. He is the man behind the exclusive colourway, that we will only be able to see Benzema wearing. A pair of Adidas F50 Adizero with a design that draws its inspiration from a gold medal, that's why he has gone for the Gold/Black colour combination. He did not manage to find the back of the net this weekend, but maybe he has a goal ready for us in the Champions League game during the midweek. Do you think so?
Jonathan Vila (Celta de Vigo) Adidas Adipure 11Pro Blackout We have a very weak spot for blackouted boots, and we are always ready with standing ovations when Adidas, as usual, launch their new boot silos in a blackouted version. Vila has gotten his hands on a pair of Adidas Adipure 11Pro Blackout, and when we saw them in action in the game against Messi and co., we knew right away that we had to include them in this weeks boot spots. It is a very classy, almost mysterious addition to all of the very flashy colourways we are seeing these days, and it immediately raises the question: What do you prefer; blackout, whiteout, or the more flashy colourways?
Luka Modric (Real Madrid) Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII ACC Retro/Total Orange/Challenge Red The king club is on a mission to eat up the point difference to the leading team from Catalonia; and this weekend gave us two début goals at Santiago Bernabeu. The two new midfielders Michael Essien and Luka Modric both found the back of the net against Real Zaragoza in their 4-0 win. Now they both just need to score 12 more goals to match Lionel Messi on the top scorer list in Spain.
Riccardo Montolivo (AC Milan) Adidas Predator LZ Custom White/Black/Red The big Italian team managed to get back on track in the Serie A, as Chievo were sent back from San Siro with a serious 5-1 beating. The game provided no less than 5 goalscorers, including Riccardo Montolivo, who gave his specially designed, Adidas Predator LZ a nice début. The colourful design includes both White/Black/Red/Blue colours and we will also use the opportunity to celebrate this design. It is also worth noticing that Adidas have chosen to just give their Adizero and Predator stars the option of designing their own pair, whereas the Adipure collection has been excluded.
Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich) Adidas Predator LZ Custom Black/White/Red The German offensive profile rounded off an impressive round for the specially designed Adidas boots as he scored against HSV, who otherwise have been doing very well lately. Müller had chosen a more classic design which matches the Bayern kit perfectly. The German team are looking like a very serious contender to take the championship, and half way through the season they have a decent lead to Borussia Dortmund; Who do you think will take the gold?
Oscar (Chelsea FC) Adidas Predator LZ Black/Silver/Neon One of the Adidas profiles chose not to début his new specially designed boot, and that was the Brazilian right here. He had actually designed a rather flamboyant pair of boots, but apparently they had not managed to pull him out of his Adidas Predator LZ Black/Silver/Neon. Chelsea lost points to Swansea and you might wonder if things would have been different if he would have worn his new personally designed boots.
Tomá Zápoto?ný (Sparta Prague) - Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII ?? We have saved the best for last, as we go to the Gambrinus league in the Czech Republic. Here we spotted a new colourway of the Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII, which we also spotted Christiano Ronaldo wearing earlier today for training in Real Madrid. It seems that Nike have something nice up the sleeve for us, but we cannot confirm this yet. What we struggle to understand is not that Ronaldo has gotten his hands on a pair of these mysterious boots, but more how in the world Tomá Zápoto?ný has managed to do the same?
We round off this weeks boot spots with a bang and a long list of questions that need answers? What is this colourway that, apparently, both Christiano Ronaldo and Tomá Zápoto?ný are wearing? What do you think it is? Feel free to leave a comment in the field just below.