All I want for Christmas is boots, boooooooots baaby. We have a soft spot for the Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas and we challenge you to name a more iconic Christmas song. We’ll wait. Whilst Mariah has been playing on repeat in the Football Boots Guru office (and we’ve been singing it badly) it got us thinking about who we’d recruit into our cover band. Covering Mariah Carey’s classic isn’t going to be easy but there’s quite a selection of singing footballers to choose from. We’ve got John Barnes and his 1990 World Cup rap, World In Motion. Or perhaps we should go with Ian Wright, straight out the jungle and into the studio. His first foray into the music scene scored him a massive UK chart number 43! Honestly, if there’s one thing you do with your day, listen to his single. You won’t regret it!
Anyway, all we want for Christmas this year is some football boots (obviously). So what boots are we hoping to find under our tree? Equally importantly, what boots are we hoping not to find?
The top 5 football boots we want for Christmas
1. Nike Mercurial Vapor XIII Elite
Nike Mercurial Vapor XIII football boots
If you’ve read our Mercurial Vapor review you’ll know that these are possibly our favourite boots of the year. They seem to be a massive favourite with players all over the country. From the professionals to the rank amateurs playing 5-a-side for a laugh. You can spot these all over the place.
Nike Mercurial Vapor 13 Elite football boots – Singles Day colourway
These boots are top-notch and no matter what your position, you won’t be let down. They’re great for a nippy winger who has his fullback’s head spinning after five minutes, to a striker who’s bullied his centre back into a ‘pulled hamstring’ after 30 minutes.
We reviewed the blackout version but there are some other beautiful colours on the go. We love the light blue and white, and have you seen the Singles Day colourway? The black, white and red combo looks absolutely beautiful.
Get these on your list ASAP! And make sure you’re nice, not naughty – you wouldn’t want to miss out.
Check out the current lowest price of the Nike Mercurial Vapor 13s on Amazon.
2. Puma Future 5.1 Netfit Low
Puma Future 5.1 Netfit Low football boots
The Puma Futures are a great pair of boots mainly because you can really customise the fit. The high collar version are seemingly most popular among professionals and you can see them on Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Marco Reus.
The Future also comes in a low cut version. And they are brilliant! They’re very similar to the Nike Hypervenom Phantom, which at the time were my personal boots of choice. They just seemed to have the perfect fit and feel.
These Puma Future Low could be seen as their successor. Whether they’ve improved on the Hypervenom comes down to personal taste but either way, we love them. The Netfit element lets you customise the fit to your own foot by having loads of lace holes so you can tighten the lateral or medial side to your preference. This is the most personalised fit you can get unless you’re a professional.
We would love to find a pair of these under the tree! They’re also great value for money so Santa won’t hate you!
Check out the current lowest price of the Puma Future 5.1s on Amazon.
3. Adidas Nemeziz 19.1
Adidas Nemeziz 19.1 football boots
You’re going to realise that we have a thing against laceless and high collared boots. That’s not to say they aren’t good and don’t look nice but 99% of the time we will recommend low cut/laces. We picked up the Nemeziz 19.1 with very little expectation to be honest, Messi doesn’t like them and who are we to go against the opinion of the GOAT?
What we actually found was that they’re actually a really good pair of boots. We didn’t turn into Messi himself but the boots were comfortable and gave a nice feel on the ball. The agility tape upper combines the perfect amount of tight lockdown with softness and comfort. While the split sole plate (no such thing) is light, reactive and gives good traction.
There are loads of colours of the Nemeziz 19.1 available to suit all tastes. We think that some of the colour combinations are questionable sometimes but there are definitely a few gems out there to get on your Xmas list!
Check out the current lowest price of the Adidas Nemeziz 19.1s on Amazon.
4. Adidas Copa 19.1
Adidas Copa 19.1 football boots
Laceless and leather is a ridiculous combo. That’s why we’ve gone with the Copa 19.1. The boots that almost, only almost, convinced Toni Kroos to get rid of his Adidas 11Pros. If you didn’t know, Toni Kroos has been wearing his 11Pros since they came out in 2014!
Not the same pair we assume but Adidas don’t sell them to the public anymore so must be making them for him especially. That’s what being a pro will get you! In all those years no boot has managed to convince him to change and the Copa 19.1 came closest.
There’s just something about them. They combine comfort and style perfectly. The seamless leather gives you a soft touch and very little slippage on the ball. Soft padded inlays in the soleplate provide added comfort on key pressure points. These boots are for the player who loves touching balls more than Katie Price. Let’s just hope you wake up to these on Christmas morning rather than her!
Check out the current lowest price of the Adidas Copa 19.1s on Amazon.
5. Mizuno Rebula 3
Mizuno Rebula 3 football boots
Our last pick is a real wild card. It’s one for the mavericks. The type of person who doesn’t want to fit in. Someone who doesn’t necessarily see a brand name but only sees true quality. The Mizuno Rebula 3 are exactly that, true quality.
There’s a beautifully thin kangaroo leather which provides the ultimate fit. Non-stretch strips wrap the mid-foot and heel to keep you locked down. The result is a comfortable, leather speed boot, something that is very rare to see. It’s just an amazing combination of leather and synthetic that other brands can only dream of.
Your mates might not understand when you tell them you’ve got new Mizuno’s. But once they see their beauty and watch you glide across the pitch in your lightweight leather boots, they’ll understand. They may even be envious. So here’s to opening up a pair of these on Christmas Day!
Check out the current lowest price of the Mizuno Rebula 3s on Amazon.
The football boot we don’t want for Christmas
Nike Tiempo Legend VIII
Nike Tiempo Legend VIII football boots
Just think of all the beautiful football boots out there. We think there’s nothing better than when you know you’ve got a new pair to open up on Christmas day. But without committing blasphemy, there are boots that we wouldn’t want to see under our tree. The unlucky pair that we don’t want to be opening on Christmas Day are the Nike Tiempo Legend VIII.
Look, if you’ve got a pair of these we aren’t calling you out. Please don’t go clatter us knee-high on a Sunday morning! It’s quite simple really, there are better boots out there.
The Tiempo aren’t truly bad but they come with really high expectations and for the price, they’re not good value for their performance. We also feel that previous versions of the Tiempo are much better when it comes to all aspect including comfort and performance. The Tiempo are very similar to the Puma One and they’re both boots that try to combine loads of different upper materials.
Here we’ve got a classic leather upper but underneath we have a new Quad-fit mesh and Flyknit tunnel, designed to keep your foot locked down. This goes all the way from the laces to the underside of the boot like a small sleeve. This is one of our major issues with this boot, in the mid-foot you’ve got leather, then Quad-fit mesh, then the Flyknit tunnel. In an area that is going to make a lot of contact with the ball your foot is a long way away from the actual ball!
We like the ideas here but not so much the execution. A Tiempo should be all about the leather and that soft, silky touch that you get. You don’t get that with these so opt for some other leather boots, unless you’ve already requested these! In which case god bless Nike’s return policy.
