Football is constantly evolving – and with it the equipment. Football boots have long been an engineering skill too. For t-online, three competitors explain what the future of the “boot” looks like.
Researcher Dr. Thomas Sterzing, sees it as a lifestyle product Adidas when it presents it in a vegan edition, as big business sees him Puma when superstar Neymar is paid 100 million eurosto promote it: the soccer shoe.
Or like the ex-national player and Real Madrid star Toni Kroos in an interview with t-online said: “As a professional, the football boot is the most important tool to be able to do my job successfully. I have a bond with my football boot. And I want to feel as comfortable as possible in it.”
Real star Toni Kroos relies on continuity with his football boots. (Source: Annegret Hilse / imago images)
This is not only the case with the world star Kroos, but also with millions of amateur footballers. They all associate their pair of soccer shoes with emotions, stories – and often above all the hope that the magic of their own idol will somehow rub off on themselves through the shoe model that has been copied from them.
For real veteran Kroos, one criterion is particularly important: that his shoe is made of real leather.
This is remarkable in that there has been an enormous departure from the classic leather shoe in football in recent years. Because the material has a major disadvantage, explains Matthias Leibitz in an interview with t-online: “In contrast to polyester, for example, leather gets full of moisture in rain and other wet conditions. The shoes can hang kickers on their feet as quickly as a block . “
Plastic shoes impress with their record-breaking weight
Leibitz is the managing director of Imotana, a German start-up that wants to stir up the football market with custom-made shoes from the 3D printer. This concept cannot be implemented at all with leather shoes, because: “Our aim is to offer our customers custom-made shoes that fit perfectly from day one and also stay fit. Leather has the property that it works, for example, expands and ever loses its shape over time after exposure. ” This is one of the reasons why the company, based near Freiburg, relies on high-quality plastics – and can thus offer shoes that weigh only a record 200 grams.
Matthias Leibitz: Before Imotana, the managing director built up the goalkeeper glove brand T1tan. (Source: Imotana)
Adam Lyon and Harrison Cook from the US sporting goods manufacturer New Balance are certain that the market for classic leather boots is still there. Shoes made of kangaroo and calf leather are “still a popular choice among players who are looking for a high level of comfort and suppleness,” emphasize the two shoe developers when asked by t-online.
Another alternative are shoes made from mixed textiles. According to Lyon and Cook, the advantages of such knitted, yarn and synthetic fabric connections are above all the “form-fitting fit and an excellent connection to the ball” that result from the even texture of the shoe.
Mixed textiles are also what make one of the big trends of recent years possible: laceless football boots with a sock-like entry. Despite the innumerable advantages and the innovative strength behind them, large sporting goods manufacturers such as Adidas avoid going “all in” and only offering such shoes.
Roman Möhlinger, Manager PR Adidas Football, replied evasively when asked whether lacing-free football boots are the future of sport: “We offer our football boots both with and without a lacing system and let the players decide for themselves which boot is best for them is the best. “
Football boots with laces? “Just a question of the look”
Imotana CEO Leibitz argues much more aggressively. He says: “With our shoes, the question of whether there are laces or no laces is just one of the looks. Due to the customization, the shoe fits skin-tight everywhere, including the instep. There is no longer any need for laces.” Leibitz also collects the worry that the sock-like entry could wear out and the shoe lose its close-fitting comfort. “Due to the nature of the material, there is absolutely no danger. The yarn is far too robust for that,” says the expert.
The German start-up Imotana wants to stir up the sporting goods market with made-to-measure shoes. (Source: Imotana)
Lyon and Cook from New Balance go in-depth: “It is important to balance the elasticity of the yarns. This means that the material has to guarantee sufficient hold throughout the game. At the same time, it has to be ensured that the elasticity does not is so high that the shoe feels constricting in the metatarsal area and is therefore uncomfortable. “
For the laceless model Tekela v3 + released in the summer of 2021, this specifically means “that the yarns are used in such a way that they do not stretch beyond their plastic deformation limit, which ensures that they spring back after being stretched and maintain the tight comfort . “
The New Balance Tekela v3 + is one of the most innovative high-end soccer shoes currently available on the market. (Source: New Balance / Styleheads)
One aspect that is still neglected by the sporting goods manufacturers with all the trends and innovations is preventive health care. A difficult topic on which Dr. Sterzing in his publication “The football shoe of the future” writes: “The effect of the shoe on injury prevention is more difficult to determine, as other influencing factors (…) have to be taken into account when injuries occur, in addition to the interaction between the shoe and the ground. “
However, a connection between (the wrong) shoes and injuries can hardly be denied. This is also emphasized by the start-up boss Leibitz, who explains:
“The standard shoe of a traditional brand is always produced in the same length and width. If the buyer has feet that deviate from this standard, he is always squeezing something. With the duration of a football game, such discrepancies become more and more brutal. The player is a burden This automatically changes the foot, adopts an abnormal self-protection posture, which also damages the joints in the long term. “
Custom-made shoes, such as those made by his company Imotana, would counteract such a vicious circle.
The big brands make a critical mistake
While Adidas and New Balance incorporate stars like Paul Pogba and Raheem Sterling into their product development, Imotana mainly gets feedback from the soccer leisure area – and thus draws attention to an interesting contradiction in the soccer shoe industry.
Because the boots of the big brands, such as Adidas and New Balance, but also Nike and Puma, are primarily designed and produced according to the needs of professional footballers – but the after-work footballers make for the big sales.
New Balance has optimized its football boots to meet the needs of England international Raheem Sterling. (Source: PA Images / imago images)
“Amateurs have completely different requirements than professionals,” Leibitz clarifies, “they don’t play on perfect floors and may not otherwise handle their equipment with such care.” Nevertheless, amateur athletes are dependent on equipment that was developed far from their footballing reality – and they also pay a hefty price for it.
The high-end version of the Adidas classic Predator costs 280 euros, the top model of the Nike Mercurial 290 euros. The market, however, gives such prices. “Half of my teammates on the amateur team I play in have football boots for over 200 euros,” says Leibitz, who makes it clear: “There are many people who are willing to spend a lot of money on their hobby.”
He also addresses this audience with Imotana, whose shoes are available for around 200 euros. One thing is important to him to emphasize: “We offer our customers a huge advantage through individualization at this price.”
Start-up boss believes in a turning point
So is the soccer shoe of the future the soccer shoe that is personalized in the app and made to measure using a 3D printer? Quite possible – especially if larger brands such as Adidas and New Balance are opening up this new division for themselves. Until then, however, they will continue to rely primarily on the innovative strength of the soccer superstars who work with them on their products.
It should be noted that an iconic shoe, such as the golden Predator that Zinedine Zidane wore at the 2006 World Cup, which shaped a generation of young footballers and which still brings unforgettable memories to them, has not been produced by the big top dogs for a long time. Instead, the widespread lack of ideas is masked with new editions and recourse to the design archive – thus satisfying the lucrative nostalgia of the once young fans.
In 2006, Zinedine Zidane played the last games of his outstanding football career in the gold Adidas Predator made exclusively for him. (Source: ActionPictures / imago images)
All of this also raises the question: What if youth and amateur footballers at some point no longer obey the attention-economy constraint of having to have the latest shoe model of their idol every year? Leibitz believes that this turning point has already begun: “It is now a long time since as much energy is wasted on copying one’s idol as it was when I was a teenager.”
Or in other words: “No youngster is up for wearing the same shoe as nine other team-mates just because Cristiano Ronaldo wore them in the Champions League last week.”
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