The Adidas versus Nike battle was taken to new extremes this week with the former’s release of the F50i Premium Pack, an assortment of boots for supposedly every condition, every occasion, every surface, and every player.
The pack comprises of a trolley-dolly style wheel case in which you can transport around with you a selection of boots that will make you the most equipped footballer on the planet, as well as the laughing stock of many of your team-mates!
Aren’t we getting a little away from the point here? Sure, to make a difference in the game it helps to give yourself every last sinue of advantage that’s possible, but spending over 400 sheets on a range of boots that will adjust and alter your game in, actually, the most miniscule of ways is really only the tip of the iceberg to the real point – inbuilt skill.
Save not only the £400 but the time you spend waiting for the delivery man to arrive too by getting down the local park in just one selected brand of what is otherwise an excellent boot and practice your dead-ball situations, or your heading, or your passing, or trapping the ball in your forearm – anything.. in fact, even practice with a pair of old clogs on, because chances are you’ll be doing more for your game than you will carting round something that looks like an air steward’s picnic case.
It’s a shame that Adidas have to dress a product up in this way, because it takes the shine off what, as already mentioned, is an excellent boot – slick, well designed, lightweight, precise, and at the height of technology.
Sure, each boot in this Premium Pack offers something different, from the Superfly-esque shimmering synthetics of the green uppers, to the trainer-esque climate control white version, or the Predator-influenced tough leather black version, but since when did somebody wear three at once, and when you’re turning up to that Sunday league pitch are you really going to carry out a detailed assessment of the climate and pitch conditions before opening up your wheely man bag and plucking out a pair of cleats for the big game.
Maybe you will. Maybe that floats your boat. But if you’re that much of a perfectionist and are anything other than a full-time professional footballer, you’re probably following the wrong sport. Try golf.
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About the author
James is an experienced football journalist who edits two leading Premier League club mags. He has worked for Sky Sports and is endlessly complaining about shin splints. And Mark Lawrenson. His favourite boot is the Adidas Predator Powerswerve. Although it's rumored that he once owned a pair of Nicks boots!
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