Reports emanating from Spain suggest that the relationship between Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid is already under some strain.

Ronaldo is of course a Nike athlete, one of their most high profile. Madrid is a club sponsored by adidas. No shocks there. But it appears that some club officials weren’t happy that Ronaldo turned up for his medical, the day of his unveiling in front of 80,000 delirious fans, wearing heavily branded Nike short-sleeved top.

Whilst this could all be described a storm in a tea cup (or even a t-shirt), surely it won’t come as any surprise to most football watchers that this is a situation that could easily have been foretold. Ronaldo has never been shy about showing off his Nike connection and it’s surely understandable, with their man grabbing so much media attention at the moment, that the company want to exploit that connection to the full.

Indeed, as Ronaldo walked out to be presented to the Bernabeu faithful, he wore a pair of bespoke Nike Merurial Vapor Superly football boots in Black / Voltage Yellow. Very nice they looked too.

The subject of branded players going to similarly branded clubs is one that has been discussed before on Footy Boots. And it looks like the subject won’t be going away anytime soon.

Of course, it was all very different when Kaka made his appearance at the famous Madrid Stadium. As the picture below shows, he wore a pair of specially made adidas adiPure II’s. Doubtless,  adidas will push the Kaka brand and also that of Karim Benzema, another adidas endorsee, for all they are worth in the early days of the new season.

Meanwhile, it may be Nike’s intention to ensure that all their professional players are wearing black based boots for the beginning of the new season, but in training, that policy seems to be rather more flexible.

With three training sessions now completed by the new superstars of Real Madrid, it seems those who prefer the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly, can’t help themselves from using an ‘old friend’.

On Friday 10th July, Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian player Marcelo were spotted in the original Superfly colourway of Max Orange / Abyss / Metallic Silver. But at the following training session on the Saturday, it was the new Superly that was being given a go in Black / Voltage Yellow.

The original Superfly

And by Monday at the Valdebebas Real Madrid training camp, Ronaldo at least had changed back in to the original Superfly’s once more.

Now, you don’t think this could be Nike having a bit of fun at the expense of others do you?

One more thing, check out the trainers being worn by the young boy walking out with Kaka. Whoops!

Where do you go when there’s nothing left to prove? You go somewhere new and prove it all over again. All of which led to the world’s most expensive player being unveiled before an 80,000-strong Madridista crowd on Monday night.

Every single screaming fan hoping Cristiano Ronaldo helps snatch the title from Barcelona. New arena. New challenge. And as the £80million man stepped into the applause wearing new, personally tailored Back-to-Black Mercurial Vapor Superfly boots, you just got the feeling that this could be the start of something very special.

“I am very happy to be here,” the 24-year-old Portuguese winger told cheering fans at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital after completing his much-desired move to the club from Manchester United. “For me it is the realisation of a childhood dream, which was to play for Real Madrid. I never expected the stadium would be full just to see me. It is impressive.”

Number 9

Ronaldo, the 2008 Fifa World Player of the Year, was wearing his newly allocated No9 jersey once sported by club legend Alfredo di Stefano. The Argentine striker, Real’s honorary president, was present at the unveiling as was Portuguese legend Eusebio. The jersey was recently vacated by Argentine striker Javier Saviola who joined Portuguese side Benfica last month.

Superfly

During the presentation Ronaldo was sporting the new Black /Voltage Yellow Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly matching with the black detailing of the Los Blancos historic all-white kit.

Ronaldo was presented with the boots ahead of the unveiling which explains the personalization on the boots not including his number. Nike were sure to keep that under wraps until the official unveiling!

Real acquired Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United last month on a six-year deal worth 94 million euros and he will reportedly be paid 13 million euros each season, making him the most expensive player in the world.

Ronaldo, who spent six successful years in Manchester, arrived in Madrid on Monday on a private flight from his native Portugal where he was on holiday, sparking a media frenzy with dozens of photographers trailing his every move.

Dream team

Ronaldo will team up with Kaka, the 2007 Fifa World Player of the Year, who signed with Real from AC Milan for 65 million euros in early June. Kaka was officially unveiled on 30th June at the Bernabeu stadium before 55,000 fans, according to club figures.

The Brazilian was the first big name who construction magnate Florentino Perez signed since he returned in June for a second stint as president of Real.

Perez, who brought Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane to Real during his first term as the club’s president between 2000 and 2006, is seeking to rebuild a squad which trailed arch rivals Barcelona last season by reviving his policy of signing football superstars.

Among Real’s other signings are French striker Karim Benzema from Lyon and defender Raul Albiol.

After some of the wonder goals from previous rounds and the high drama of the semi-finals, the Champions League final may not have delivered edge-of-your-seat, 90 minute excitement but what it did give us was a truly dominant performance by Barcelona, the new kings of Europe.

In what was described as the dream final, they proved far too strong for Premier League champions Manchester United and deservedly ran out winners by 2 goals to nil.

Footy Boots looks back at the game and charts the Football Boots timeline.

Early chance

Two minutes in and Manchester United are applying the pressure. The English side win a free kick and Ronaldo’s effort is fumbled by Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Ji-Sung Park looks favourite to get to the rebound first but former United defender Gerard Pique intervenes and scrambles the ball away to safety.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly

Goal

United are still the team looking the most dangerous but their spell of domination is ended by Barcelona’s first real attack of the final with 10 minutes gone. Andres Iniesta injects some pace through midfield and releases Samuel Eto’o in to the United box. The Cameroon international is allowed to turn inside by Nemanja Vidic and with his new Puma v1.08’s, he fires the ball past Van der Sar. 1 - 0.

Andres Iniesta - Nike Total 90 Laser II

Skills

Iniesta may have been an injury doubt before this game but it looks like no-one told the player himself! Along with Xavi, he’s running midfield and already United are chasing the game. Then a mesmerising bit of skill from Lionel Messi as Carrick, Rooney and Vidic are all given the run around.

Xavi - adidas Predator Rome

Woodwork time

United have brought on Carlos Tevez for the second half but it’s not making much difference. Barcelona are still the dominat force and nearly double their advantage when Xavi hits the post. His curling effort beats Van der Sar but smacks the upright and rebounds away to safety.

Goal

Twenty minutes are left as United fail to clear and the ball falls to Xavi. He strolls forward and sends his cross towards Messi who has split the United centre backs. For a moment it looks as if the pass is too high, but the diminutive genius seems to hang in the air and expertly sends his header in to the corner of the net. 2 – 0.

Lionel Messi - adidas F30i /F50i

Dominance

United try and mount a response but Ronaldo’s effort is blocked by Valdes and once again, it’s the Spanish side who look the more dangerous. Even their defenders are getting in on the act as Carlos Puyul, the expected weak link at right back, plants a firm header goalwards but too close to the United keeper.

Carlos Puyol - Nike Air Legend II

Full time

It’s all over and Barcelona are the champions. The phrase reverberating around Rome and Manchester is: “We were beaten by a better team.” No doubt about it. They were.

Ronaldo beats Messi

Although they have yet to face each other on the pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded a significant victory over Lionel Messi.

Asked: “Who will have the biggest impact on the Champions League Final?” it was Ronaldo who edged out the Argentine in the Footy Boots debate.

When polling closed on Wednesday morning, nearly 4,000 of you had voted in just 5 days with the split favouring the Ronaldo / Nike combo. The Manchester United player scored 2,081 votes for 53% of the total with Messi & adidas on 1,875 votes for 47%.

Although close, it’s a ringing endorsement for Ronaldo who will of course be wearing the Nike Superfly as opposed to Messi in his brand new adidas F50i’s. Though, with all the drama the competition has generated so far, I doubt the result in Rome will be so clear cut, or indeed, a simple shoot out between the Nike & adidas poster boys.

Safety in Rome

Reports suggest that a number of VIP’s were caught up in long delays at Rome’s Fiumicino airport last night as the authrorities struggled to cope with the influx of fans. If this is the only blip supporters have to endure over the next 24 hours or so, then we can all be thankful.

Uefa has been warned by many outside parties that the Italian capital, with its long history of football related violence, was a risky choice to host the final. Let’s hope that all fans, Spanish and English, enjoy a safe stay in the city and peaceful time in the stadium. God forbid they don’t, then we’ll know who to blame won’t we?

Not just boots

It’s going to be fascinating to see all the new football boots on display in the final. Messi in his adidas F50i’s, Henry and Giggs in the Reebok Instante, Carrick in his newly personalized Puma King’s along with Eto’o possibly wearing a gold version of the Puma v1.08.

However, the new gear on show won’t just be limited to boots.

Both sets of teams will take to the field wearing the Limited Edition Eugene Track Jackets produced by Nike. The jacket, being shown here by United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and brought to you exclusively by Footy Boots, is part of Nike’s  Sportswear Icon’s range and will go on sale at the start of next season.

On the spot

Should it come down to penalties, and let’s hope that’s not to be the case, then United should certainly have the edge. The English side are shoot-out regulars and have won 4 out of the 5 penalty competitions they’ve contested since defeating Chelsea in last year’s CL final. By comparison, Barcelona haven’t been involved in spot-kicks to decide a match for over 11 years.

It promises to be a great game in Rome tonight as Manchester United take on Barcelona in the Champions League final.

And for the football boot enthusiast, it could be the pinnacle of the season with a host of new boots on show.

Lionel Messi - adidas F50i football boots

Much has been made of this boot of late with adidas coming out all guns blazing in a big-time marketing launch including posters, videos and of course, an on-pitch debut by the Argentine magician.

adidas will hope that the Barcelona player enjoys more freedom than he did against Chelsea in the semi final and that the biggest club stage of all provides an effective back drop to their most important launch for some time.

Footy Boots Final Factor

A very handy 8.5 / 10

Most Interesting Bet 

Messi to miss a penalty - 16 / 1

Michael Carrick - Puma King XL

Not exactly new boots, but new to Carrick as he’s had them personalised for the big game.

The United player has had the words “UCL Final Rome 2009″ stitched to the outside of each boot and “MC 16″, his initials and squad number, added to the tongue.

Big job tonight to keep the multi talenet Barca midfield quiet.

Footy Boots Final Factor

Could go either way - 5.5 / 10

Most Interesting Bet 

To be substituted - 11/ 4

.
Ryan Giggs / Thierry Henry - Reebok Instante

It’s been a soft launch from Reebok as they try and repeat their success of last year when Giggs turned out in a unique pair of KFS Sprintfit Pro II’s.

But they have come up with a nice video which you can see here.

Footy Boots Final Factor 

Two quality players so a quality 7.5 / 10

Most Interesting Bet

Thierry Henry to score in any minute with 8 in it - 8 / 1

(And if we’d have found a picture of these two training together, now that would have been a story!)

Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Vapor Superfly

Not new boots of course, but after his performances against Porto and Arsenal in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively, far too important to leave out of the equation. Plus, we found this excellent image of him training last night.

Footy Boots Final Factor

Potential match winner - 9 / 10

Most Interesting Bet 

To score opening goal 3 / 1

Before they meet in Rome on Wednesday 27th May, Barcelona and Manchester United could have a major say in who is relegated from their respective leagues at the weekend.

In something of a coincidence, both Champions League finalists meet teams who are deep in trouble – Barcelona at home to Osasuna in La Liga and Manchester United away to Hull City in the EPL.

The plight of those two particular sides and those around them probably won’t concern the Spanish and English giants and it’s a pretty safe best also that Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson will rest their stars before next week’s big game.

So, we can assume that both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will turn up for the final raring to go and doubly keen to show the football fraternity just why each of them has so many fans that rate them as the number one in Europe, or indeed, the world.

But who is going to make the difference and which brand is going to emerge the happier? Ronaldo and Nike or Messi and adidas?

The decision, as they say, is yours as Messi v Ronaldo is this week’s Footy Boots debate question.

Tale of the Tape

Lionel Messi                                   Cristiano Ronaldo

Age: 22                                           Age: 24

League goals this season: 23         League goals this season: 18

CL goals this season: 8                   CL goals this season: 4

On the face of it, Messi has the edge with more goals both domestically and in Europe this season. But he was virtually anonymous in the semi final, second leg at Chelsea while Ronaldo proved too good for Arsenal in their semi final as he scored twice at the Emirates as United ran out 3 – 1 winners, and 4 – 1 overall.

Having also scored in the quarter-final against Porto, can Ronaldo keep up his amazing Champions League form or will the Argentine youngster proved to be a hit on the biggest European club stage of all?

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Competition is inherent in football - the game itself is based on it, and off the pitch there’s always talk of boardroom battles, bidding wars and mind games.

Away from the clubs themselves, the competition has been equally fierce between the sports brands; sponsorship deals on players, clubs, tournaments and even leagues are all opportunities for product placement by companies with unfathomable sums of money at their command.

Adias marketing at Euro 08

Competitions however have an candid characteristic: they have winners. I’ve grown up on the Nike Vs. Adidas competition, always assuming that both would always be there - but what if one of them achieved the impossible - what if one of them had complete market domination?

In one corner Adidas has an excellent reputation, their heritage is unrivalled (even involving a family feud with Puma!) and shows it in boots like the Copa Mundial and Samba, but they’re no slackers when it comes to research and development either, with their Predator range being arguably the most continuously innovative pair of boots on the market.

The Adidas Copa Mundial

However Adidas has always been something of the underdogs in this battle as Nike has always been (in terms of yearly profit) the ‘bigger company’. As such, Adidas seem to have developed a very defensive strategy; for example it’s not enough to have sponsorship rights to every World Cup since 1994 and through to 2014, but very recently have begun to pay extra to have no Nike adverts played whatsoever during the 64 games broadcast in the English language.

That’s not to say Adidas aren’t capable of taking the initiative, they’ve taken the fight to Nike on their own turf by becoming the official supplier to the MLS, providing all team kits, balls, referee uniforms and equipment. Also, in August 2005, Adidas bought Reebok, meaning that at the time, they were able to bring their business sales figures the closest to Nike’s that they’d ever been.

Adidas designed MLS shirts for Red Bull New York

In the other corner Nike; in the last decade or so have enjoyed a great share of the football boots and equipment market. Thanks to some excellent individual player sponsorship, the public in general are confident of the quality of Nike’s boots. However, the Nike name isn’t as ‘in your face’ as the Adidas brand, with Nike sponsoring far less of Europe’s major tournaments. Only match ball sponsorship in the English Premier League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League springing to mind - so how have they managed a majority share?

Nike has really shone with clever marketing schemes; I’d be willing to bet that 90% of this site’s readership have watched Christiano Ronaldo race a Bugatti Veyron in his Mercurial Vapors or seen Ronaldinho rattle the Nou Camp crossbar with impossible precision thanks to his signature boots; and that’s the reason why Nike don’t necessarily need the sponsorship clout that Adidas flaunt whenever possible.

Very expensive and totally ostentatious - the other one’s a Bugatti!

Not limited to the viral video plane, Nike have also matched Adidas in terms of growth - with Nike’s recent acquisition of Umbro (interestingly enough another Northern-English sports company) is an exciting statement of intent from the American company.

Realistically, both brands will continue in a long and prosperous fashion, but if you had to pick one - who do you think would come out on top - and why?

For once I’m going to come off the fence and say Nike - Adidas have had their financial pitfalls before (See: Bernard Tapie 1989 - 1993) which demonstrates they’re perhaps not as solid as they should be. In terms of products, Adidas are no longer the sole leaders in boot development like they were in 1990’s - Nike have stepped up their innovation recently with boots like the Superfly. Finally they’ve shown incredible creativity in the face of Adidas blocking a number of the conventional routes for advertising.

Coming soon, the Black / Yellow Superfly

But what do you think? Are you impressed by Adidas’ strong-arm sponsorship policies? Or should we be looking at some of the smaller companies who still survive every year thanks to their business models? Drop us a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Footy Boots revealed that the new Superfly was available for retail purchase on 1st August 2009.

The newly strengthened football boot, which was launched in a Black / Yellow colourway, should prove a hit with Footy Boots fans who voted that particular colourway as their favourite when we previewed the initial range a few months ago.

The football boots were originally intended to go on public sale from 1st April but a series of mishaps put paid to that plan with Nike postponing the date just 96 hours before the big day.

Followers of this story will remember that Footy Boots highlighted three instances of the boots ripping. First when Didier Drogba wore a blacked out pair in an international game for the Ivory Coast, secondly when Andrey Arshavin had to change his footwear during an Arsenal league game against Blackburn and lastly when Seville’s Luis Fabiano suffered a similar fate in a match against Valladolid.

Are they supposed to look like this? Didier Drogba’s boots come to grief.

As a result of our report and feedback that Nike received from the players involved, the planned retail launch was shelved.

At the time Nike issued a statement which read:

Nike is committed to delivering the best possible performance product to our athletes and consumers throughout the world.

Over 1300 hours of wear-testing and extensive athlete feedback and familiarisation have been undertaken in the development of the Mercurial Vapor Superfly football boot. This includes feedback from some of the best players in the world.

Our product development team recently received feedback from the players mentioned in the Footy Boots article and we are making slight modifications to the upper of the boots as a result.

The other colourway the Nike have left in the locker from the original line up is Platinum / Red / White which is also likely to be replicated in the Vapor V series as well.

Tell us what you think of the Black / Yellow colourway by using the Footy Boots bootOmeter below.

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Champions League scandal

It’s been a breathless two nights of football and we have ended up with Manchester United and Barcelona in the final of the Champions League. United won at a canter against Arsenal while Barca squeezed through with an injury time goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, their first shot on target. But, should it have come to that?

Uefa like to boast that the Champions League is the best of the best, la crème de la crème. Whilst this might be true with regards to the teams playing in the competition, the same cannot be said of Wednesday night’s official.

Tom Henning Ovrebo is from Norway and more used to officiating games involving such football power houses as Viking Stavanger, Rosenborg, Molde and Tromso. Now you tell me, how does that make him the right man to oversee a Champions League semi final?

Of course, it’s not his fault he was appointed. Who wouldn’t, in that profession, want to take on such a massive encounter? But the simple facts are these. Chelsea had four claims for penalties, three of them nailed on certainties. All of them were waved away.

How many pens did you miss ref? By the way, this is a picture of a hand.

Dani Alves was fortunate not to concede a spot kick in a wrestling match with Florent Malouda that started outside but continued into the area. Eric Abidal’s tug on Didier Drogba’s shirt wasn’t seen and handballs by Gerard Pique and Samuel Eto’o also went unpunished after the break (Eto’o’s probably unintentional though his arm was way above his head).

All of which will mean the conspiracy theorists will be out in force. Uefa didn’t want another all-English final, they will say, so appointed a referee to ensure they got the result they wanted.

Whilst this is probably wide of the mark, Uefa don’t help themselves do they? If this was the most important match played in Europe last night, why wasn’t the most important referee assigned to it? A top Italian or German official, used to performing at the highest level, at that pace and with the kind of players on show at Stamford Bridge.

Of course, we’ll never know as Uefa never admit that they make mistakes.

 Didier Drogba chats to the ref after the game.

Meanwhile, Barcelona will also point out that Abidal will miss the final after he was red carded for a non-existent foul on Nicolas Anelka. As the TV pictures clearly showed, Anelka tripped himself up. No question. So Abidal, like Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher, will sit out the big game in Rome through no fault of his own.

How, in this modern age, can this be allowed to happen? Ask Uefa, but don’t expect a straight answer.

When boots go bad

If you believe some of the guff that is written on the web, then you’ll be of the opinion that the only reason Ji-Sung Park and Cristiano Ronaldo scored on Tuesday night was because they were wearing Nike football boots.

I’m sure that as Ronaldo lined up his first half free kick he thought to himself: “I may be 41 yards from goal but I’m going to have a dig as I reckon the Flywire technology in my Superfly’s gives me a real chance.” Or then again, it could be that he has unshakeable belief in his own ability.

This type of positive spin is all well and good in itself provided you understand that it’s being written for one reason and one reason only - to sell you the football boots in question.

Apparently, Park’s lung busting display was down to the comfort of his Tiempo’s. Well, my Mum’s slippers are comfy but I doubt she’d be able to put in that type of display. No, you need some talent and an awful lot of fitness for that. Comfortable boots can assist a player, but they can’t turn him in to something he’s not.

Indeed, later on today, you’ll probably see a few pieces which will suggest that Barcelona have reached the CL final purely because Andres Iniesta happens to wear the Total 90 Laser II.

The boots wot won it. Iniesta’s T90’s.

But of course, they never report the down side do they? It’s as if this part of the game just doesn’t exist. So, in order to provide a balanced approach, here’s the other side of the coin.

Kieran Gibbs fell over on Tuesday and presented Manchester United with their opening goal.

Gibbs wears the Nike Tiempo Air Legend II.

Didier Drogba had Chelsea’s best chance of the night against Barcelona but failed to roll the ball in to a half empty net or chip it over a prone goalkeeper.

Didier Drogba wears the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly.

This is not a dig at Nike. They didn’t write the articles concerned. Merely a request that if people ‘big up’ a boot in one instance, they must surely highlight the bloopers in another.

You know it and I know it. Shame some football boot writer’s don’t.

Two games played and both Champions League semi finals are on a knife edge.

Chelsea’s brave defensive display earned them a draw at Barcelona but they’ll have to be careful at Stamford Bridge as an away goal for the Spanish side will see Chelsea needing to score twice.

By the same token, Arsenal will have to overturn Manchester United’s 1 goal advantage at the Emirates, whilst a goal there for Sir Alex Ferguson’s  team means the Gunners will have to find the net 3 times.

That aside, what we witnessed this week were 4 very good sides, all with collective and individual brilliance.

Which got us thinking – what would be our Champions League, semi final fantasy XI?

After much debate, argument and shouting, the Footy Boots office was split. The boss had his choice:

Alumina - Nike Total 90 Laser II

O’Shea - Adidas adiPure II  Ferdinand - NikeT90 Laser II  Terry - Umbro SX Valor II  Evra - Nike T90 Laser II

Yaya Toure - Nike Tiempo Legend II  Anderson - Adidas Predator Powerswerve   Fabregas - Nike Tiempo legend II

Messi - Adidas F50.9 TUNiT  Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Superfly

Drogba - Nike Mercurial Superfly

The rest of the office came up with this:

Cech- Adidas Predator Powerserve Rome

Alves - Nike Mercurial Superfly  Terry - Umbro SX Valor II  Ferdinand - Nike T90 Laser II  Evra - Nike T90 Laser II

Iniesta - Nike T90 Laser II  Yaya Toure - Nike Tiempo Legend II  Giggs - Reebok Sprintfit Lite Pro

Messi - Adidas F50.9 TUNiT  Rooney - Nike T90 Laser II  Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Superfly

So, do you agree or have your own opinion?

Use the comments section below to let us know how your fantasy side shapes up and we’ll poll the votes for each individual player and publish the definitive XI on Tuesday.

In Portugal, Manchester United arrived to play Porto in the unfamiliar position of being underdogs following a 2 – 2 draw at Old Trafford. United required a strong start to quieten the locals and they got it on 6 minutes through Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo.

Having scored just once in the Champions League this season, Ronaldo made sure that his second goal of the competition would be slightly more memorable. Picking up the ball 40 yards out, Ronaldo let fly with an explosive shot that whistled past Helton and in to the top corner. It proved to be the winner and reaction to the goal from the player and his manager was equally enthusiastic.

Sir Alex Ferguson said:

I would have to go back into the memory banks to find a better goal than the one Cristiano scored tonight. It was a great, great strike.

Ronaldo himself was equally delighted saying:

It is the best goal I have ever scored. I have just seen the replay. I didn’t realise it was so far out and I hit it at 64mph. Wow!

Meanwhile over in London, Arsenal were favourites to progress to the semi finals at the expense of Villarrael after securing a 1 – 1 draw in Spain. And they didn’t have to wait long to go in front. And as opposed to Ronaldo’s effort, this time it was a precision strike from the Superfly.

10 minutes had gone when Emmanuel Eboue’s forward pass was flicked on by Cesc Fabregas into the path of England winger Theo Walcott. The youngster bore down on goal and lured out Villarreal keeper Diego Lopez before exquisitely chipping the ball over him to put the Gunners ahead in the tie.

Further goals followed from Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie as Arsenal recorded a 4 – 1 aggregate win.

The victory set up an all British semi final between Arsene Wenger’s side and Manchester United, and the Arsenal boss is already looking forward to it saying:

It is a test but one we relish. Manchester United against Arsenal are always very exciting games. Both teams like to go forward and we will be up for the challenge. It will be very interesting. It won’t be predictable. History always has a little part to play. But it is a cup competition of 180 minutes and what’s most important is the form on the day.

Wednesday’s victories for United and Arsenal completed a stunning 24 hours for the Superfly with Didier Drogba wearing them to great affect in Chelsea’s 7 - 5 aggregate win over Liverpool. Additionally, Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery also got on to the scoresheet wearing the Nike football boot in their 1 - 1 2nd leg draw with Barcelona at the Allianz Arena.

Chelsea v Liverpool

So much for the all English Champions League quarter final being a tight affair. What a game. What entertainment. What belief from Liverpool to race in to a 2 – 0 lead on the night and what bravery from Hiddink to replace Salomon Kalou with Nicolas Anelka after just 35 minutes. I’d have loved to hear his half time team talk as well. Talk about a coach earning his money. It seems churlish to raise questions after 90 minutes if brilliant entertainment but from a Liverpool perspective, where was Torres and what has happened to Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech? Flappy or what? Thank goodness that John Terry will be back for the Blues for the meeting with Barcelona.

PFA means FA

The nominations are in and we now know that 5 of the 6 finalists in the running for the PFA award are Manchester United players with the other coming from Liverpool. If you hadn’t heard, United are represented by Ryan Giggs, Nemanja Vidic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand and Edwin van der Sar with Steven Gerrard the one from Merseyside. The trouble with the list is that it’s all a bit previous. Nominations have to be in by mid March which means most votes were counted in February. Back then, for example, Vidic was superb but he was subsequently destroyed by Fernando Torres at Old Trafford. Similarly, van der Sar didn’t concede a goal for about 8 years but has since let in 11 in 5 games. And what if Frank Lampard or John Terry should lead Chelsea to Champions League glory? Shouldn’t the player of the year actually be exactly that – the player of the entire season?

Patience isn’t a given, Shay

The Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given has appealed for the club’s supporters to show patience as they wait for some better results to come. The influx of money from overseas certainly raised expectations at Eastlands but so far, the season has been generally disappointing. Given said “People automatically feel we are a top-six team because we are one of the richest clubs in the world. In years to come I think this will be a great club to be involved with. But Rome was not built in a day.” As the excellent Daily Bung points out in the Daily Telegraph, Rome may not have sprung up over night but Given should remember that many parts of downtown Abu Dhabi did!

Up and down

The most redundant newspaper headline of the week centered on the Wolves manager as were informed that Mick McCarthy was ‘not getting carried away’. The former Republic of Ireland boss has guided Wanderers to within one win of the Premier League but is staying ‘grounded’. To borrow a phrase from Monty Python, I imagine that a man such as McCarthy would stay grounded if even if you put 50,000 volts through him. Going the other way are Luton Town who have lost their Football League status. As their manager Mick Harford said this week, this is not the fault of the current staff, but of those who have gone before. If Luton can show the kind of spirit that won them the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in a superb final against Scunthorpe, it surely won’t be too long before the Hatters are back in League Two.

After reading the recent article on a Bayern Munich contract trying to force Frank Ribery into a pair of Adidas football boots I couldn’t get rid of the bad taste in my mouth. I was tempted to leave a rather large comment on the subject, but then decided that I had enough of a rant there to start the basis for an article.

When I crunched the numbers on the price of player sponsorship a few months back, I gained a lot of respect for larger football boot companies (Adidas in particular as they were kind enough to share some of their figures which formed the basis for my article) who focus so much money on getting players to advertise their wares; so I can understand that wherever possible having the biggest names wearing your product can have a massive impact on sales for boots, not to mention other products.

Franck Ribery

Once a sports company has a player on its books for both boots and club it means they can get much more ‘mileage’ for that particular superstar. It avoids the ‘red tape’ when using the player in ads and marketing campaigns for the seasons new kits. For example Nike use Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Evra for their Manchester United-centric adverts, and this season’s Liverpool Kit was launched by Gerrard, Kuyt and Pepe Reina. Many people see certain players as synonymous with certain clubs, especially when advertising their merchandise overseas - Can you imagine seeing an advert for AC Milan replicas with no Kaka?

Again, looking at things from Adidas’ point of view, Ribery signed a contract that he and his agent will have been fully aware of, and he could have argued the toss with the club when negotiating before he put pen-to-paper on his new deal for Bayern.

Ribery continues to wear the Vapor Superfly

However, as frequent poster ‘Jed’ said on the article - it’s a dangerous move when a brand tries to use club loyalty to try and influence endorsement deals. It can start rumours that the player and the club are no longer ‘compatible’, and we all know how little information it takes for transfer gossip to start picking up speed, as well as how much agents like to get a value on how much their client is worth.

Secondly; footballers, like the rest of us get used to boots. Footy Boots community member ‘kevin’ mentioned football boots giving you a mental edge. Whilst it being a debateable issue, it’s a definite possibility that if Ribery had been forced to change from his Vapor’s to Adidas’ likely alternative, the F50, mid-season it might’ve taken him a couple of games to adjust, and in a crowded season a couple of games with your best winger having a hump on about his football boots could cost you valuable points.

The latest F50 from Adidas - the Rome

Finally, and most importantly, I feel it reflects badly on the 3 Stripes as a brand; shouldn’t they have confidence in their football boots to sell themselves to the pro’s? Surely the fact that they’re trying to use Bayern as a lever is a massive statement on where Adidas see themselves in comparison to the competition?

Where does everyone else stand on this?  Should it go as far as that there should be no mention of football boots in a player’s contract? Are there other solutions for companies to help get team’s best player’s in their boots? Or should players just be allowed to use the football boots they want to wear - and if someone wants to sponsor them - so be it?

Most of the larger boot brands will often boast that they’ve had the consultation of the biggest names in football in developing their new boots.  The paying public is told why a football boot is made for a particular player or players and, should you buy it, why it will make you play like them.

However, I’m sure I’m not the only one who watches some players and thinks one of two things;

1. That the football boot they’re wearing really is perfect for the player, or

2. That there’s another football boot out there that they really should be playing in.

Starting the list of players in the former category, Theo Walcott is the very definition of the values of the Mercurial Vapor line; a low-profile, sleek unit built with only speed in mind. Both the Vapor and Walcott might not have the best touch and accuracy around but I don’t think that bothers their fans - it’s all about reaching top speed as fast as possible and leaving the opposition wondering what just happened.

Theo Walcott’s Vapor IV

Next is a player that’s been the flagship of his football boot since it’s first incarnation: Wayne Rooney and his Nike Total 90 Lasers. For clarification, I’m not talking about the sleek Air Zoom Total 90’s- famously favoured by Luis Figo - I’m talking about the Lasers; tuned for power and accuracy, a real heavy hitter who’s courted a fair share of controversy; that doesn’t care too much about being the first to the ball, more about taking the rough and tumble and powering the shot to where it needs to to be. All of that could be said of both the player and the boot.

As a player who’s career has had to be reinvented so many times  the perfect match for the Adidas F50’s has to be France and Sunderland’s Djibril Cisse. As Cisse played through his Liverpool career he opted for the first incarnation of the F50. Following his horrific leg break and loan move to Olympic Marseille, Cisse found a his boots, too, were undergoing a revision - now branded as TUNiT’s. Now, both the football boot and the player are notorious for their capabilities for speed, clean strike of the ball and last but not least their outrageously customisable uppers.

Cisse prefers them red, but here’s the latest F50 from Adidas, the Rome

Now for more comparisons, but this time football boots and players who, barring lucrative sponsorship and endorsement deals, would share a special kinship with some of the boots on the market today.

Paul Scholes is, to me, a pair of Umbro Speciali’s. Both are now stalwarts in their respective fields, and whilst certainly might not be to everyone’s taste, command a huge level of respect from their peers. Scholes is a player who has witnessed some of the best talent in football come and go around him and, despite the old addage about old dogs and new tricks, has taken little touches and pieces of play from his peers and added them to his game. Much in the same way that Umbro has seen many ideas from the bigger companies being implemented to their products, and quietly tweaked and refined their forgotten flagship into a classic boot with modern touches, continuing to be some of the best in their class.

The Umbro Speciali

Looking across the Manchester United midfield is the illustrious Cristiano Ronaldo. The ‘Best Ronaldo of All Time‘ has a long standing love of the Nike Mercurial line, which dates back to when they were known by most as the ‘R9’s (a bit fateful given the recent results of a certain poll), so I’m sure I’m going to stir up some controversy by comparing the Portuguese winger to a pair of Concave PT-1’s. Over the last 18 months both have caused massive divide in the football world, moreso than perhaps any other player or boot. Whilst plenty won’t buy into the hype of either, there’s many out there who have no qualms about tipping their hats to someone who’s trying to do something a little different, be it stepovers or hunks of plastic. Coincidently, Concave are launching a new all-white colourway in time for the summer and rumours will inevitably suggest the Cristiano will be doing the same!

Cristiano Ronaldo is actually a Concave boot -surely you can see the resemblance?

Now, simply because I don’t want to the the only Footy Boots writer to not have any say on the Nike Mercurial Superfly, I present Michael Owen - the human Superfly. A hefty investment as the most expensive boot on the marketplace and the best paid player in the Premier League; It would seem both share a risk of potentially ruining themselves after a minimal amount of time on the pitch. Should that risk pay off, however, the opposition will find themselves with a tricky, speedy handful with only one objective in mind.

There’s plenty more comparisons out there and I’d love it if you’d drop a comment with some of your ideas - I honestly never knew the Footy Boots community was so massive until I saw nearly 5,000 votes in the recent Ronaldo poll!

So get involved and have your say on not just this, but all of Andy, Alan, Omar, Matt and James’ articles!