NIKE CTR360 – THE NEW WORLD ORDER? ADIDAS PREDATOR X: THE LEGEND RETURNS

Nike’s recent release of the new CTR360 maestro has been met with somewhat of a revolution.

Branded as an ‘all-round’ boot rather than a ‘touch’ or ‘power’ boot, the CTR360 mixes the best aspects of both. A rubberized ‘pass pad’ provides more accuracy. They have dampening pads on the forefoot for a better first touch. Sharper studs on the heel and unique dual-density fore-foot studs in a circular pattern add extra grip.

Nike went back to the drawing board with these boots. Extensive testing and player opinion helped them develop this amazing boot. It was released in two colorways: black/white/yellow and the flagship colorway; red/black/white, which seem to be getting more game time.

Apparently, Nike offered the boots out to players at training grounds. If they liked them they could chose to wear them. Not a bad idea. And it seems to have worked!

Players are popping up with CTR360’s all over the place, some of whom aren’t even supposedly sponsored by Nike. Ashley Cole, ex-Adidas man appeared in Puma’s during pre-season and now can’t get them off his feet. West Ham’s Alessandro Diamanti has traded in his Diadoras. Malouda, Milner, Matty Taylor, Mascherano, Alex Song, Iniesta and Fabregas can all be seen in CTR360’s – just to name a few…

One of the most iconic boots of all time were released yesterday. The ‘Predator X’ is the newest version in Adidas’ successful Predator franchise. They are worn on the feet of stars such as Gerrard, Raul and of course, David Beckham.

Predators, for so long the first choice of professionals and amateurs, have slipped down the pecking order it seems. The rise of the Nike Vapour series has been influential in this. The Adidas Predator however can still claim to be the highest scoring boot in the Premier League at this current moment with 6 more goals than the Nike Lasers. In fact Nike only hold a 1% greater stake in the Premier League in terms of market share.

Aresnal’s van Persie is the Predators highest scorer in 9^th with 5 goals. (Jermain Defoe is Adidas’ highest goal scorer with 6. He wears F50i’s.)

One of Predator’s biggest problems is that they currently lack big name stars. Previously there was a plethora of talent to choose from as the ‘face’ for this boot. That has dropped slightly. This is changing however with the addition of Karim Benzema to the Predator family. Ballack, van Persie, Gerrard and Berbatov can all be used in England. Beckahm globally and in the USA. Raul and Benzema now in Spain.

I just wonder, if with the release of the new Predator X, we will see a surge of players wearing PX’s like we did with the CT360’s. Adidas also called in a player (well ex-player) to help design this boot. Zidane was one of the most iconic Predator wearers of all time! The PX’s also feature new technologies to help with power and swerve. They claim the new technology can help you kick harder, which means the ball moves faster (almost three meters per second). For only the second time ever, Predators don’t have a fold-over tongue. The Predator X uses a wrap around system like the AdiPure boots.

With large amounts of technology and development going into these boots it will be interesting to see which one gets bragging rights as the Premier League (and World Cup) top scorer!

Will the release of the new Predators see another ‘revolution’ like the CTR360’s brought about? Will avid F50 users and AdiPure wearers be switching over weekly?

We will have to wait and see…