Player Spotting [8] - post pic/info of players in new boots gear!

I posted what is below in the Nike forum in regards to this silly sock thing. Personally, I think this will be Nike's Tunit and it's an idea Diadora did in the mid 90's anyway. I could be wrong and it could be the greatest thing ever, but I doubt it will be and it will most likely suck, royally.

From Nike forum:

Yeah that DAP boot was labeled in retail speak as the Van Basten boot - for which he supposedly had design input - as means to protect his frail ankles. Oddly, the retail version of the DAP SuperGoal dropped well after he hung up his Brasil's.


The first Match Winner and the first Super Goal also had the "sock" concept for better compression and fit but it cut under the ankle and it made the shoes a pain the ass to get on (these shoes also had.....carbon fiber on the outsole!!!!). I had to have the Match Winner I when I was in 8th grade because of Baggio, along with the blue and the black and white Brasil (at the time Soccer World rated them their best boot and rightly so)..... and anything else I thought he wore. Not because I thought it would make me play like him, but I wanted to have his boots because anything he wore had to be the best (little did I know how modified his actual shoes were vs. retail). I played two matches in the Match Winner and junked them for more Brasil's. More or less that is when I started to figure out that the boots the pro guys wore must have been different because no one would want to play wetsuit material.


I probably should have posted this in the Player Spotting section where these boots have more traction, but per the sock bit....I would imagine it will be interchangeable like the Kobe System for basketball and an easy sell of something for $60.00 (wild guess at price) from Nike.


I don't think the colored bootie sleeve thing can be an issue per the "Ronaldo sock" thing. The latter was when cut socks were showing white against colored match socks which is against FIFA laws. The booties will be safe because the bootie is part of the shoe in terms of function, not the sock, and shoes are not restricted by FIFA when it comes to color and so on. If FIFA tried to step in, Nike could say that zones on the LZ don't match socks (as they are a function feature) thus they either can't exist or must match the sock.


That is what I was getting at when I said Nike wanted to be more visible on other brands kits. Most of the sock cutters (before TruSox) were Nike guys and I'll argue they cut the sock for two reasons: 1) The insole of Nike boots has sucked the big suck in terms of way too much or too little motion and friction for almost 10 years between faux rubber and leather toppings. 2) Socks in general are too thin and too slick from being all synthetic, so they were cutting the feet out and putting cotton athletic socks that you can buy in 12 packs under their game sock.


If they are cutting adidas socks its all good, because then it plants the seed that the $30.00 adidas socks suck (which they do), but cutting Nike socks is very bad for Nike because it make it look like Nike's $30.00 sock sucks (which they do).....so problem solved. Nike has given everyone a "sock" in a boot that: 1) Keeps Nike sock cutting invisible. 2) Overtakes other branding or draws attention away from it per adidas. 3) Totally blocks visible TruSox (sorry Jim, time to think of something new). 4) Keeps the gimmick train steaming along now that we have run out of adjectives to describe what a boot will make you or enhance for you.


It is pretty brilliant by Nike from a screw the competition standpoint, but it's not "new". Diadora did it already in some form, Under Armour has a ridiculously high ankle sleeve on their football boots for Cam Newton and even uppers like FlyKnit and Carbon fiber are not that innovative. Puma was making boots out of kevlar and Gor-Tex fibers in like 1993 and adidas did a modular boot.......the Tunit.


It is the same shit....just in a different box.

 

Annoying given the fact that adidas has shunned the leather boot in the US and limited the release to the whiteout and blackout colorways. They have also not given the retail leather model in the US the impressive SpeedFoil rear quarter and probably not given the retail model the same heel fit which is far and away the best locked down heel counter I have experienced in years. This wouldn't be an issue if the synthetic (which is impressive in it's own right) had a more forgiving fit for the wider footed player or those that 2x sock it (like Messi on both counts).

Granted I haven't tried the leather US model on and it could be great (it does seem to have the suede heel liner which has been missing from adidas for a while, sadly), but I feel they are giving it less quality to finally torpedo leather in retail outside the 11Pro and Copa.

It looks like his whole boot is leather actually which is interesting because the SpeedFoil is pretty nice for a rear section and we have seen the pics of the disguised leather models that have SpeedFoil on the heel area that have been floated on the forum.

@JayMike-DK I have yet to put hands on either the blackout/whiteout model of the leather or the blue (and now black/white) models that have a leather forefoot. Can you confirm what the actual retail models of the blue or black/white have vs. the sample pics, which seem to be all over the place. If the latter two leather models have SpeedFoil on the heel, I am ordering them from your shop as they flat out aren't offered in the US.

 

Haven't seen it, or been to his site in a good while. Work has been taking a lot of my free time away from me. I'll check it out though.

 

Thanks. mate. I'll let you know if I want to get a pair. It actually sounds like the US model might be a better bet. I was looking for something with more toe box volume, but I have also yet to break in my orange synthetic model fully.