Given I've always fancied myself as a midfield schemer (ie, lazy, clapped out asthmatic) it's not hard to imagine the palpable excitement I felt upon receiving an invite to try out Nike's new CTR360 Maestri II Elite boot at Arsenal's London Colney training ground.
Nike no longer content themselves with designing the ultimate boot per se but instead have set about building a product that takes into account the specific needs of a given position.
The CTR360 Maestri II is a boot designed for the playmaker looking to 'master control on the pitch' and given they've managed to persuade Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, Rafael van der Vaart and Jack Wilshere to wear them, on the surface it looks like job done.
But given the aforementioned would probably look tasty wearing a pair of flippers, sometimes testimonies from the laymen are just as important as the foremen.
Let's get the elephant out of the room first. At £235 for the Elite version they're not the boot for you unless you take your football seriously - very seriously.
Alternative versions of the CTR360 are available at £135 and £72 and the initial feedback on these incarnations of a boot that has received universal praise from the pro market is encouraging.
It's not exactly a Cinderella-style fitting procedure at these events as the Nike PR team are given our sizes beforehand but it's always a relief when said products fit. I may have got lucky but mine couldn't have been comfier had Saville Row's finest made me a bespoke pair.
On an aesthetic level the standard boot comes with a red upper and white heel (although Van der Vaart wears a blue and white version!) and while certainly more playmaker than anchorman, they not as flashy as many of the modern boots on the market.
I'm pretty confident they won't transform me into the English Iniesta but just for a moment, clad head-to-toe in the pro gear, I catch myself daydreaming 'if Wenger walks past I might just catch his...'
I wake up when a misplaced pass finds touch in the first drill but when I find my range over the ensuing hour or so I genuinely begin to feel the benefits of wearing a first rate pair of boots.
There is a lightness to the CTR360 that manifests itself not only in terms of movement but also first touch. It might be simplistic to say 'heavy boots; heavy touch' but I did find the simple things seemed effortless wearing the 360s. Here's where the technology comes in. An injected instep pad with added traction (based on that used on golf clubs) helps to give an instant feel for the ball, while dampening pods on the front of the boot provide enhanced control.
One of the tasks was raking long passes over mannequins and having hit three or four sweetly in a row the hefty price wasn't looking so prohibitive after all. A number of the tasks were designed to get us looking up and thinking ahead for the next pass upon gaining possession.
The CTR360s obviously aren't going to provide you with instant vision (although I suspect boots with GPS are probably in pre-production) but the receive and pass pads, which I haven't come across before in my spell reviewing boots, give you confidence that your feet will take care of themselves.
A carbon chassis incorporates bladed studs, while the boot's lacing system is designed to create an expanded ball control surface.
Locker Room has been treated to all manner of top boots over the past six months but from a personal perspective, from all that I've seen and sampled, the CTR 360 Maestri II Elite is the best on the market.
But given the aforementioned would probably look tasty wearing a pair of flippers, sometimes testimonies from the laymen are just as important as the foremen.
Let's get the elephant out of the room first. At £235 for the Elite version they're not the boot for you unless you take your football seriously - very seriously.
Alternative versions of the CTR360 are available at £135 and £72 and the initial feedback on these incarnations of a boot that has received universal praise from the pro market is encouraging.
It's not exactly a Cinderella-style fitting procedure at these events as the Nike PR team are given our sizes beforehand but it's always a relief when said products fit. I may have got lucky but mine couldn't have been comfier had Saville Row's finest made me a bespoke pair.
On an aesthetic level the standard boot comes with a red upper and white heel (although Van der Vaart wears a blue and white version!) and while certainly more playmaker than anchorman, they not as flashy as many of the modern boots on the market.
I'm pretty confident they won't transform me into the English Iniesta but just for a moment, clad head-to-toe in the pro gear, I catch myself daydreaming 'if Wenger walks past I might just catch his...'
I wake up when a misplaced pass finds touch in the first drill but when I find my range over the ensuing hour or so I genuinely begin to feel the benefits of wearing a first rate pair of boots.
There is a lightness to the CTR360 that manifests itself not only in terms of movement but also first touch. It might be simplistic to say 'heavy boots; heavy touch' but I did find the simple things seemed effortless wearing the 360s. Here's where the technology comes in. An injected instep pad with added traction (based on that used on golf clubs) helps to give an instant feel for the ball, while dampening pods on the front of the boot provide enhanced control.
One of the tasks was raking long passes over mannequins and having hit three or four sweetly in a row the hefty price wasn't looking so prohibitive after all. A number of the tasks were designed to get us looking up and thinking ahead for the next pass upon gaining possession.
The CTR360s obviously aren't going to provide you with instant vision (although I suspect boots with GPS are probably in pre-production) but the receive and pass pads, which I haven't come across before in my spell reviewing boots, give you confidence that your feet will take care of themselves.
A carbon chassis incorporates bladed studs, while the boot's lacing system is designed to create an expanded ball control surface.
Locker Room has been treated to all manner of top boots over the past six months but from a personal perspective, from all that I've seen and sampled, the CTR 360 Maestri II Elite is the best on the market.
