On Review: Nike CTR360 Libretto TF

If you're a fan of the Premier League, you're unlikely to have not noticed the presence of the Nike CTR360 boots favoured by a number of players. Their distinctive split colour scheme is difficult to miss and, with James Milner making a real case for a place in Fabio Capello's England squad for World Cup 2010, they're spending plenty of time in the spotlight.

I'm an especially enthusiastic supporter of Milner's case, and so my friends at SoccerPro.com kindly offered to send me a pair of boots to test out for myself. Now, I rarely play on grass these days because my football career tragically failed to live up to expectations, but I do play in a relatively good standard Monday night kickabout every week, so I made the switch to the astroturf version of the CTR360 and gave my own astroturf trainers a couple of weeks off.

After a couple of cancelled Mondays thanks to the so-called big freeze, I finally laced up the very attractive Nike CTR360 Libretto a couple of weeks back and have since given them a thorough testing.

So, what is it one looks for in a football boot? Comfort's the most important thing for me, and these days it's closely followed by the effect they have on your grip, touch and ball-playing accuracy.

Hour One

My first match in the CTR360s and it went like a dream. It helps that I played quite well (for the first time in months - my form's been absolutely appalling lately), but the boots feel great. Despite that 'new shoe' feeling they're pretty comfortable and a good fit. The grip is much better than my own boots, and the difference in my ability to change my pace from slow to really slow and back again - and turn in a small space - is noticeable. That's not bad considering the pitch has been covered in an inch of ice for the better part of a month.

I played deeper and more centrally than usual, and found that my touch at close quarters was more accomplished than it had been for a while. The CTR360s seem to help guide the ball onto the foot and also handled tight, first time passes rather well. Good work. I did score, but it was a left-footed tap-in that I would have managed in clogs.

Hour Two

Match number two, and I reverted back to my usual Monday night position which is somewhere between slow left winger, slow left wing-back and slow centre half. No goals for me, but one or two decent shots which hit the target from distance. It's not easy for an amateur player to give genuine feedback on the accuracy offered by football boots but let's just say I got the impression the ball was doing what I told it to do. I did play three top-notch passes, including one low, volleyed cross-field pass which surprised even me.

At the back, I made one last-ditch block to deny a certain goal. Sounds weird, but I have no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't have been close to the attacker, never mind touch-tight, without the grip of these shoes. The talent and the Baresi-like reading of the game, obviously, were all mine.

All in all, the CTR360 Libretto is a comfortable, high performance astroturf shoe. And you can't say fairer than that.

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What I'd want for Christmas if I played on grass

Dear Santa Claus...

That's a sexy boot, no? My football career died a bit of a death when I was 16 and discovered that hangovers were more fun when you had them in bed and not on a football pitch.

Being a bit of a flair player (go on, laugh it up), I opted for wearing a pair of skaggy old boots which had been worn by Paolo Maldini (seriously) more often than not.

These days, my only football is a weekly astroturf outing with a lad from work, a few media types and assorted celebrities.

But if I were out there on grass banging in 29 goals in 26 games these days, I'd be begging for these bad boys when jolly old Saint Nick flies his sleigh over Tooting this Christmas.

The good people at Adidas sent this over and I rather like the idea (and the look). It's the Adidas F50.9 TUNiT boot, a customisable yellow and black number - no pink nonsense here - which allows players to adapt their gear to conditions and playing style.

According to the press release:

"The F50 is the boot of choice for flair players up and down the country and is lighter, stronger and more durable than earlier versions. These customised boots help players feel confident when expressing themselves on the pitch, but more importantly, to ‘skin’ the defender in front of them."

If we assume the defender in question is Joleon Lescott, that brings us nicely on to the real reason I love this boot: Ashley Young wears it. If it's good enough for Ash, it's good enough for me.

Adidas has also launched its new Predators, PowerSwerve. They look pretty cool too.

If the Adidas people are reading, don't forget to let me know if/when these come out in astroturf version. I'd love to have a go, but I'll be buggered if I'm getting muddy at my age.

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Testicular fun with Michael Ballack and Adidas

There's a few Adidas virals knocking around at the moment, starring top class footballers (and Arjen Robben). We've all seen the Steven Gerrard clay pigeon one, but here's another starring a better player - as a Thanksgiving gift to my American readers, natch...

The video is promoting the new Predator boots, incidentally. They've come a long way:

(Photo Credit: Ciao)

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Wider Reading: Soccer Boots Blog

Every two weeks, I'll be introducing a different blog I've been reading.

Well, that's what the blogosphere is about - individual growing networks of knowledge.

I wouldn't want people to read my blog and only my blog, and I'm a keen reader of blogs elsewhere.

So in the true spirit of blogatry, here is the first post in the Wider Reading series, and my first official TFT approved blog.

Better get the guilty pleasure out of the way first, I think. It's just like Alcoholics Anonymous: my name is Chris, and I read about football boots.

Soccer Boots Blog

Football, as any other subject, has levels of interest. There's the casual follower, the dedicated follower and the obsessive (it's simplistic, granted, by you get the point). Somewhere in the obsessive group is 'geek', and, sadly, that's where I reside. I watch games, but I also like to read about things like...gulp...boots.

Fortunately, Soccer Boots Blog caters for people like me (and probably relevant professionals, too). It's much better than it sounds, and more accessible too. It carries all the latest boot-related news, as you might expect, but also relates it back to players.

It is very technical, and fascinating as a result. These boot manufacturers do all sorts of cool things with their kit, y'see. Some fans see them as unnecessary (sweet spots, blades, different leathers etc), but they're interesting none the less.

Personally, it's an interest which dates back to watching a video about Craig Johnston developing Adidas Predator by lashing a ball at a wall and modifying the shape of the boot to improve the accuracy of movement of the ball.

Importantly, Soccer Boots Blog doesn't just PR the crap out of a bunch of boots as they're launched. It also looks at technique, and that is so very, very central to injury prevention and a young player's technical development. We all know that's topical right now, what with England not developing its kids properly and all. The blog even throws in a bit of footy news for good measure every now and again. Lovely stuff.

Well worth a read if you're interested in football equipment, technique development, science etc. Enjoy.

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