The adidas F50 adiZero has to be drastically outstripping the expectations set by adidas.
Whilst always a popular line of football boots, the F50 range has always sat somewhere behind the adidas Predator range and arguably the adiPure series, also.
But the adiZero has officially, as the Rappers of the world would say, “Blown Up” (Oh yes, we are down with ALL of the streets here at Footy Boots)
As well as being the single most worn football boot at this summer’s World Cup (as shown in our World Cup Boots Stats), the adidas F50 adiZero may soon be able to claim 3 new members of the English Premier League Champions & FA Cup holders to it’s already impressive stable.
Nicolas Anelka, Yossi Benayoun and Flourent Malouda were all spotted during Chelsea‘s 2-1 pre-season defeat last night wearing the ultra-light boots.
From what we know, all of those players are either nearing, or at the end of their football boot contracts, so there’s every chance Adidas could make 3 top signings.
Nicolas Anelka is the big news, as his move to the adiZero – in conjunction with John Carew’s move to adidas – will leave Puma drastically under-represented in the build-up to the new season.
Benayoun‘s adoption of the adiZero is also an interesting one; as a player who was constantly shifting between models of the Mercurial Vapor on an almost weekly basis, we’ll be very interested in whether the Israeli settles on this speed football boot permanently.
One of the most controversial will be Flourent Malouda, one of the few French players to still have his reputation intact after a rocky World Cup, Malouda’s trusty Nike CTR360‘s helped him on his way to his best season with Chelsea.
But the powerful wide-man has been flirting with four different pairs of football boots this pre-season; the Nike Superfly II and the adidas adiPure III – in addition to the adiZero & CTR360 – so we’ll be watching him very closely during Sunday’s Community Shield game against Manchester United.
Spotted any similar brand swaps? Please do let us know….
all 3 were big surprises. anelka was meant to be switching from the v1.10 to the powercat but instead switched to the adizeros! carew also switching means puma have lose 2 of their biggest players in the premier league.
benayoun was also a surprise as he has been a vapour wearer for years, but maouda was the complicated one.
he was wearing 360 elites at the world cup and then was spotted wearing a pair of adipure 3s before playing in castus superfly ii’s against frankfurt. it will be interesting to see if these changes are all permanant ones.
another chelsea player who has changed recently is yuri zhirkov who was a puma king wearer when he first came to chelsea but last season switched firstly to adipures and then to the superflys, but he too is wearing the chameleon adizeros.
many players have switched to this boot and i think the simple reason is that upon release it was the lightest boot on the market. players like obafemi martins who have been vapour wearers have changed allegiances to adidas. with the new release of the puma v1.10 sl it will be interesting to see if they can attract some more players back to puma.
It’s all positive for adidas and the adizero, for me the best thing is the cost. adidas didn’t drastically increase their prices like Nike did.
I think Nike will suffer as a result.
I agree with DaveM. I’m a club player and I feel more inclined to actually getting the top of the line boot as it’s just about saving a while. My mum, yes, I know, would kill me if knew I bought a 300 quid pair of boot but seems okay with 125 quid boot.
Adidas have stepped it up a notch. I feel they have got all 3 boot markets sussed out. Speed, power/durabilty/stability, heritage/oldschool/classic. All at competitive prices.
@DaveM yea the will suffer i was a huge fan of all the Nike ranges and because of the price i had to move to Adidas and i dont regret it
Hey let’s face it, on the whole Nike seems to me to be a lot of hype and hot air and not much else. If you look on other boot-worshipping sites (Sorry Footy-Boots!) there are people singing the praises of Nike to the moon and back, and yet who in their right mind would want to spend 300 quid on a pair of boots that are not designed for them in mind?
Adidas has always got my vote and with the release of the AdiZero seem to have now moved that much further ahead of Nike. I do confess that i own two pairs of Legends and quite like them, but i have also been wearing Preds since 1998 and see no reason to switch allegiance to Nike anytime soon….although i also confess i am fawning over the new Mizuno Ignitus, shame it has not come out in black/white yet!
As long as adidas keeps the price of the boot reasonable in terms with the Vapor line, they will continue ot lead the way in lightweight boots…..
I have to admit the Nike Mercurial Vapor line has always been one of my my favorites, but sadly they lost me at Vapor VI. Nike has always made great football boots but somewhere through the Vapor V design process an employee realized the could take the bottom of a vapor iv sl and cover the upper with flywire, they could multiply the price. But now Adidas has outplayed Nike and as some of our football heroes will make the switch, and the players who have got the cash and are speed demons with or without good cleats will no doubt stay the same. My advice is this… If you prefer style and can afford superflys, go for it. If you want an extremely ugly shoe that gets the job done, go for the adizero.
The adizero isn’t ugly though, it looks much better than a boot with what looks like tyre marks on one side of it, that’s then been splashed with highlighters
I dont think the adizero boots are ugly at all. For me, they look amazing! And as I said before, these boots proved to be reliable in the WC. I guess players around the world are aware of this fact and are switching the f50 adizero. In fact, if you watch any match nowasdays you can tell more and more players are wearing these boots.
The adizero boots arent ugly at all. For me, they look great! And as I said before, they proved to be reliable during the WC. I am sure players around the world are aware of this. In fact, if you watch any match you will see more and more soccer players making the switch to these amazing boots.
As Adam said – Zhirkhov has also switched. Paulo Ferreira has also changed from Nike to AdiPures
Not dissin Nike or Puma or anyone, as they all make good boots. I do think Nike go too far with colour schemes and new releases etc and this is reflected in many (marquee) players wearing olders models (think Fabregas, Drogba and Torres off the top of my head). But that is their prerogative.
I wear Concave which is perfect for me but i remember when i first held an Adi-Zero, i was well impressed. It’s so light, and looks smart without being flash (even the chameleon ones imo – maybe not the yellow / cyan ones). And that is what i think is refreshing about players chaning brands and keeping their old model boots – that it’s clear that top players are the same as everyone else and that they actually care as much as all other players for what they play in, regardless of gimmicks.
In fact re Ferreira – a player that generally wears the latest version of the mercurial (i think) – i’ve just noticed was wearing (i think) Puma Powercats in the World Cup? Interesting stuff.
i was a huge nike fan boy but specifically i loved mercurials but with the realsase of th vapo vi and the superfly II i switched to adidas.. this was due to price and mainlyquality of their products.
but for the pros honestly i dont think they care about price they should only care about quality since they have loads of money and i believe that adidas are starting to get a lead on nike.. they have well priced boots that are high quality and arent gimmicky. nike need to take an example from adidas.
A lot of people here seem to be talking about quality of boots in comparison to their price and are saying “adidas this and nike that” but lets not forget that there are a lot of other quality football boot brands out there! In particular I think Umbro deserve a mention whose recent “top line” boots are all cheaper than any others on the market.
As a side note on the adiZero’s: one of it’s key selling points I feel is the fact that it’s available in leather which a fair number of the professionals have chosen to wear
benayoun is not an adizero person he is a mecurial guy
in response to delmin, paulo ferreira did formally wear the latest versions of the vapours, infact at the end of the season he was wearing the new mercurial 6 in the purple colourway. i was surprised to notice that at the world cup he was wearing the tricks version of the powercat. in one pre-season match he returned to the vapours but in chelsea’s latest match he was wearing black adipure 3s. will be interesting to see if he continues with these at the community shield match today.
I like real leather boots, not synthetic like the vapors. I love the nike legends / ttiempo, but switch to the adipures. Adipure really good boots but don’t like the tongue. I saw the the leather version of the adizero, love it. But were getting artifical grass, we have to buy other kinds of boots. Does anyone knows if there comes a adizero for artifical graSs?
Since when did Shevchenko switches to Nike?
I like real leather boots, not synthetic like the vapors. I love the nike legends / ttiempo, but switch to the adipures.. I saw the the leather version of the adizero, love it. But were getting artifical grass, we have to buy other kinds of boots. Does anyone knows if there comes a adizero for artifical graSs?
I didnt expected that malouda and anelka would switch to adizeros. Benayoun didnt always were the latest nike versions, so that wasnt surprisingly for me
Since when did Shevchenko switches to Nike?
we need an update! is malouda back with nike? i thot he wore predators at the community sheild!
I prefer predators and t90 3’s because they have more protection the adizeros are so light a cruching tackle could injure your foot
Why did Nani switched to the adidas f50 adizero?? hehe.. I miss Nani in the Superflies,,