FOR THOSE OF a certain generation, the Adidas Predator has achieved iconic status as far as football boots are concerned.
First released in 1994, they were unlike anything the game had ever seen before with the revolutionary rubber fin system, which was originally designed by former Liverpool midfielder Craig Johnston.
The Predator really came into its own around 1998, when global stars like Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Alessandro Del Piero helped the brand compete with their biggest rival Nike — headed up by Brazil’s ‘R9′ Ronaldo.
It was also at that time when this writer parted with a significant chunk of Communion money to purchase his first pair.
While Adidas continued to develop the range right up until last year, its appeal was greatly diminished in recent times by the arrival of competitors to the market. Alas, two months ago it was announced that the Predator was being thrown on the scrap heap in order to make room for a couple of new great hopes.
Two years in the making, the X and Ace arrived on the shelves of sports shops around the world this week and we caught up with Adidas regional technical representative Mike Fairhurst to get the lowdown.
Having travelled around Britain visiting all the top clubs over the past few months, he touched down in Dublin accompanied by a 40ft trailer fully kitted out as a state-of-the-art boot room.
“Typically, we had the Predators, the F50s, the Nitrocharge and the 11Pro,” he said. “They are all now gone.
“In their place, we have brought out two new boots — X and Ace. There’s a rationale behind why we have taken this step.
“First of all, football is changing and Adidas is embracing that. From the cutting of the pitches, to the different technology in the balls, to social media creating players as personalities.
“We spoke to players and managers such as Pep Guardiola, who told us that there are two types of players these days. Your control player, who is a playmaker, and then your chaos player or game changer.”
The X, made “to cause chaos”, is instantly the more eye-catching boot of the two, with its unusual design and bright colour (which we’ve been told is solar yellow). It’s built for speed and agility and also has a ‘techfit collar’, which is essentially a sock to slip your foot into.
The Ace, meanwhile, is a more conventional boot design with an emphasis on control, hence the golf ball-like texture all across the toe and in-step.
But there are plenty of players who don’t fit the description given for either boot, so which type best suits, for instance, the no-nonsense defender?
“Probably the Ace, but it’s not about the position you play in anymore,” is Mike’s reply. “But it comes down to which boot you like best when you try it on.”
There are four different grades of each with the prices ranging from a whopping €200 to the much more affordable €50 and they come in both synthetic and leather if you prefer a bit of weight in your footwear. They will also be released in a number of different colours over the coming months.
Sentimental types like us may still be still mourning the death of Preds, but the only place you’re likely to find the odd pair is eBay, despite inevitable criticism from some quarters.
“At Adidas, we have a two-year product cycle so this has been in our thought process for the last couple of years,” Fairhurst adds. “It has been tested rigorously with players and it’s not something we have just sprung out of nowhere.
“Naturally change brings about a bit of negativity but at the same time, it’s a good thing because we have got people talking about our boots.
“Over four weeks we visited every Premier League club and a couple of the promoted Championship sides and we came across one player who had a problem. The rest couldn’t get enough of them.
“Things change. Predator is old and we’ve got new technologies now.”
