The week that changed football boots forever

Over the past week, football boot design has experienced the most innovative, most ground-breaking and most revolutional changes that we have ever seen. Not one but two of the world’s biggest sport good manufacturers, Adidas and Nike have released their designs for the introduction of “knitted” football boots. This article analyses whether these boots are really as momentous as people are saying and if so, which one is the most innovative?

The week began on March 3^rd 2014, where the world’s first knitted football boot was launched by Adidas as a limited edition product, the Adidas Samba Primeknit. The boot provides the comfort, feel and responsiveness that playing in barefoot does whilst combining that with the protection needed for modern day football. The knitted upper part acts as a second-skin and so offers flexibility and comfort that is unprecedented in football boots of the past. The way the Primeknit technology is constructed means it provides stability and strength that is needed in the game.

I, like many others love playing football with just socks on. The freedom and feel and the agility it gives you is unlike present day football boots. That is why these innovative Adidas boots are truly ground-breaking for the game because it offers the same experience but better. Better by improving protection, strength and stability due to the studs, base and knitted body.

The technology is revolutional for football and I really want a pair just to see how it feels to play as if I were barefooted. However, there is one question that is unanswered, and that is how durable are the boots? Because surely the yarn will get damaged from tackles, shots, rain etc, and is the durability as good as other football boots? In spite of this, the appearance of the Samba Primeknit is gorgeous. The colours are reminiscent of other knitted trainers and look great on the turf.

The launch of Adidas’s new football boots called the Samba, introduced their Primeknit technology to football for the first time and it made me wonder when was Nike going to release a pair of football boots which features their world renowned Flyknit technology?

Well on the 7^th March 2014 the Nike Magista was announced. It will be released for sale on the 22nd May and will be on display for the World Cup in Brazil this summer. The technology enables the boot to fit like a sock and so allows the user to be closer to the ball. The increased ball control and feel maximises the users’ awareness and interact with their surroundings. These all result in a better performance and skill, allowing playmakers such as Gotze and Iniesta to create magic.

I think the Magistas look incredible and actual better than the Adidas Sambas. This is due to the colours and the added low ankle sock that is a first for football boots. As well, the Samba looks as if it’s just a F-50 boot with a knitted body whilst the Magista looks like a completely new design.. of which it should! With such an innovative technology introduction as these bots are, surely the design should also reflect the momentous change and not just be a modification. The Magista has another two colour schemes ready to be released later this summer which look incredibly sexy and puts it way ahead of the Samba in my books. Nike’s Global Vice-President of Sport Performance, Phil McCartney said that this boot will change football forever and I believe it will.

I thought that was the end of it, the only launch I could even imagine was that Puma had developed their own knitted boots but no. Instead, Adidas released a further development, the Adidas Primeknit FS. It is a limited edition world’s first all-in-one knitted football boot and sock hybrid, and quite frankly, I am not surprised it is a world’s first. It truly looks horrific. I can not even justify the idea, it resembles a wellington boot.

Okay, so I will stop slamming it for now and look at the positives it shows. It displays the high levels the Primeknit technology can reach. It improves ball touch, feel and control because the foot and lower leg area is made from one continuous material. As well, each yarn has been coated to ensure water resistance which does answer one of my previous worries of the Samba.

In spite of all this, I really hope that the FS stays as a design concept because if it got finalised before the World Cup then we could see some embarrassed and rather ridiculous players running around in these hybrids.

What Adidas started was truly innovative, the Primeknit Samba has changed football boot design forever. Nike’s Magista reaches the same height of innovation as the Samba but others a much more appealing design which I would recommend people to buy. The Adidas Primeknit FS is just ridiculous, they took the develop too far I feel and hope that it stays as a concept.