Puma V3.06 Football Boots by Alexander Gogin

The Puma V3.06 is a mid range football boot that shares its design and many performance features with the more expensive V1.06.

Despite a significant price difference of around 50GBP, the two models can be distinguished by the upper material and the use of a cheaper plastic material in v3.06’s sole plate instead of fibre glass.

Comfort: The football boot features a decent comfort and fit. It has an anatomically shaped heel counter, as well as a soft suede-like leather in the heel, ensuring a pleasant, blister-free experience.

The synthetic upper is also very supple and moulds quickly to every curve of a player’s foot. However, like with any other football boot, there are some comfort related issues, too. Due to designers’ aspiration to decrease the shoe’s weight, the insole was chosen to be made very thin, causing strong pressure from the studs on certain parts of the foot. This might become particularly uncomfortable when wearing the SG version of the football boot.

Performance: Weighing in at an astonishing 7.5 oz, the V3.06 is one of the lightest football boots on the market and has only been outrun by its “big brother”, the V1.06. A thin synthetic material with a very close fit not only provides an increased feel of the ball, but also, quite surprisingly, adds some power and swerve to the shot.

The upper absorbs very little water as well. However, despite all of these advantages, the football boot offers little protection against a hard tackle - the thin synthetic and light heel counter simply weren’t designed for a rough game. The same heel counter also offers little stability in sharp turns.

The V3.06 features an innovative side lacing system, which is not actually that impressive in reality: the football boot starts to feel loose about 15 minutes into a game and usually has to be re-tied about every 20-25 minutes. The insole, already mentioned above, is not fixed and often slips to the side.

Overall, Puma is facing a lot of work if they want the V-series to reach a good performance level.

Sizing: The football boot runs about half a size smaller in length and is quite snug throughout.

Price: From £40

The Mizuno Morelia Wave football boot. A professional football boot from Mizuno. By Nick Tan.

Mizuno is a Japanese boot manufacturer founded in 1906. Having sponsored Shevchenko and with Patrick Kluivert on their books, Mizuno clearly take their football boot business seriously.

Mizuno Morelia Wave

The Mizuno Morelia Wave football boot is made in Japan. It’s what we consider a high end football boot. Made from the finest Kangaroo leather. Interestingly, each piece of kangaroo hide is only used to make two pairs of football boots and no more. This detail extends beyond the leather, with fine attention to detail. The football boots are available in black or a limited edition white colourway.

Weighing in at 250gram, these football boots are light for an all-natural leather football boot. The leather uppers do not have any padding between the leather and the lining and this helps make the football boot light in both wet and dry conditions.

The K-leather does not over-stretch and maintains its shape well due to the stitching pattern. So when purchasing a pair of these football boots, get a good fit, they will mould to your foot but will not expand too far.

The football boot has a narrow fit and does not suit players with a wide foot (Mizuno makes football boots for wide feet in the lower series). The fit is extremely firm and even in wet conditions, the football boots held the feet firmly within.

The heel has a unique material that grips extremely well. The studs may be considered oddly shaped, resembling baseball cleats, as most manufacturers do not make the shape of the studs this way. My guess is the outer sole are made to these specifications due to the general playing surfaces in Japan, where the football boots are manufactured. Most non-professional teams play on very dry sandy pitches and that explains, a very hard and durable, one piece moulded sole that resemble baseball cleats was needed. The upper and lower of the boots are held together by all three methods of putting a shoe together - stitching, gluing and riveting are all used to build this pair of football boots.

Verdict: I think only two things would discourage a buyer of this wonderful pair of football boots - price and its narrow fit.

Diadora Brasil Axeler football boot review, by Nick Tan.

Those were the days when Stan Collymore, the Neville brothers, Roy Keane and even Marco Van Basten stepped onto the field with their Diadora football boots. These days most of the players endorsing Diadora hail mainly from Serie A, the most well known being the ageing Filippo Inzaghi.

Diadora Brasil Axeler

Weighing in at about 14 oz (actual weight) for my little Size 6 feet, this Diadora football boot, made in Bulgaria, is half a size larger than usual. For example, I had to make do with a UK 6 ½ as the 6 was simply too tight for me, although I do have a penchant for tight fitting football boots.

Wearing the football boots for the first time, I was excited, looking at the beautiful luminous yellow markings on my football boots, left me feeling like a pro.

The Fit
The football boots felt secure, although the original lacing proved to be a little excessive. The kangaroo uppers were very soft as they were further lined with cambrelle. The initial fitting was weird as the football boots felt very stubby, but by the time my football boots were moulded to my feet, after a few weeks they felt okay.

Football Boot for Wide Feet
I would have to say that, it’s a football boot suited for wider feet. The patented shock absorbing DA and Ergos technology was great, as not once did I feel any stress on my soles, running of the rock hard pitch here in Singapore, it really works. In fact, not once did I have to suffer a single foot problem wearing this pair of football boots. Even breaking the football boots in was quite pain free.

Poor Durability
However, for all its comfort, there were just too many things that were not right, especially in terms of durability. After just over 6 months of wearing the football boots once a week, barring an intensive 2 weeks coaching course, a hole appeared at the tip of the toe. It was then I realised how thin the leather actually was. In fact, the football boots started to really age after wearing them just 5 or 6 times.

Wet Conditions
After about 2 months, I noticed the inner soles started to peal and they later developed a hole in the material exposing the foam. The lining of the inside of the heel was also torn after about 5 months. That was not all, when it rained, the football boot weighed a tonne. So much so that I had to have my football boots changed halfway through a game to avoid fatigue. The water absorption was also just too great and wouldn’t be too comfortable during wet weather. There was also a fair bit of movement of the feet when the football boots were soaked. Stopping was a challenge as the feet were swimming and moving around in the football boot.

Summary
So if you are looking for a great looking football boot, with traditional feel, comfort in dry weather and an advanced sole, this is the football boot for you. Regular training and matches in these football boots would just greatly reduce their life span.

Considering, my weight of about 62 kilograms, the football boots couldn’t take too much abuse. Someone weighing a third more is going to kill these football boots much quicker.

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