zidane inspired predator x from adidas

The latest in a long line of Adidas Predator football boots, the PredatorX has been unveiled today, described by the manufacturer as the ‘ultimate powerboot.’

The most famous boots in the world have been in production since 1992 and for the 10th generation of the footwear adidas has created the most evolved Predator ever under the guidance of a true legend in the game who knows all about power – Zinedine Zidane.

A revolutionary centre to the boot called the Powerspine reduces the reflex of the underside of the foot, minimising the energy lost when a player strikes the ball, transferring this energy to ensure maximum connection with the ball.   The result of this innovation is an additional 7% extra power versus the previous generation of Predator™ boots.

Sadly my playing days have long since passed, but I can’t help wondering if the latest product from Adidas would have beniffited me at all. I doubt it very much but I am none the less intrigued by a football boot that has been designed to ‘add swerve and control’ through bespoke technology.

Speaking at the launch of the boots Zidane said;
“Having worn Predators throughout my career, I’ve always been amazed with the continued product development and what each new version of the boot bought to my game. With Predator X, I’ve been working with adidas to help lend my football experience to their product knowledge to truly deliver the next step in boot technology. The Powerspine innovation ensures the boot will strike harder than any boot in the market.”

Predator X

The new boots will be available in the ‘classic’ colours of black, red and white and an ‘alternative’ colouring of white, yellow and black.

Top adidas sponsored footballers across the World will be wearing the boot from November onwards including Steven Gerrard, Karim Benzema, and Michael Ballack.

The Adidas Predator X football boots go on sale on November 14th, so parents can start saving now!

Naughton and Walker have been with Sheffield since they were schoolboys, Naughton earned his place in the United first team in August 2008 and made  50 appearances for the club as they reached the play off final, where they lost to Burnley.

Everton are known to have made a bid for Naugton believed to be around £5million , but he has chosen the move to Spurs.

Walker will be loaned back to Sheffield United for this coming season and  United will also have the pick of Spurs squad players as loan targets – subject to approval of course.

The 33 year old Argentinian striker spent most of his contract on loan to Italian giants AC Milan and for the past two seasons with current Serie A champions Inter. Inbetween time he helped Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2005/6.

Crespo never settled to life in London although he did score ten goals for Chelsea in his first season there in 2003, after being signed by the former manager Claudio Ranieri. Incredibly Crespo has won three league championships in the past three seasons, 2005/6 at Chelsea and 2006/7 – 2007/08 with Inter.

Crespo will team up with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan where he is expected to sign a permanent deal.

Standing on the touchline in the pouring rain watching your team failing to qualify for a major final, is quite sane compared to some of the things that Domenech has done.

Making squad selections based on astrology almost saw Domenech kicked out of his job before the World Cup finals in 2006. A sudden change of fortune and  a pre retirement in form Zidane helped the ageing French side to the final.

This time there is no saviour, Domenech never even considered taking in form striker David Trezeguet to the Euro’s, favouring the out of form Henry and Anelka. Their best players overall in the three games were veteran Makelele and headless chicken Ribberry.

And when France returned home, Domenech tells the nation that he is getting married, “To lift the spirit of the country” after failing at football.

But my favourite story was how Domenech blamed the hotel that the French team were staying in for his teams awful displays at Euro 2008. He said that the Hotel only had one entrance and all the rooms led off corridors making the team feel as though they were in a cul de sac!

Why he hasn’t been shown the door is anybody’s guess.

All you need to do is click on the Orange racoon at the bottom of the page to register and take part in the internets first balloon race.

The race will promote Orange’s mobile tariffs by inviting users to tag a balloon shaped like its dolphin, panther, canary and racoon brands.

A virtual race will see users follow personalised balloons across hundreds of sites in a seven-day bid to win a £20,000 VIP trip to Ibiza.

Each site equals one internet mile and the user with the most miles at the end of seven days wins. Players can also get bonus prizes and energy boosts for their balloons.

The race starts on June 23rd so REGISTER NOW!

There are two injury doubts but both are being played down.  Chelsea have stated that Ashley Cole is fit to play, following the madman two-footed challenge by Claude Makele in yesterday’s training session, and Alex Ferguson categorically stated at the press conference that Nemanja Vidic is fit to play even thuogh he missed Man Utd’s training session yesterday.

Those two players performances could be vital.  Ashley Cole will need to stop Christiano Ronaldo having too much influence on the game, and Nemana Vidic will need to be 100% fit if Didier Drogba is on fire.

In recent encounters Ricardo Carvalho has played well against Wayne Rooney for Chelsea and Portugal.  But where will the excellent Michael Essien play?

I think Avram Grant will play him right back to make way for Claude Makele in the Chelsea midfield.  I personally believe this gives Chelsea an unbalanced line-up as Essien is like a dog on a leash being held back from making bursting runs through the centre of midfield that is one of his main strengths.

I predict the teams will be:

Chelsea: Cech, Essien, Terry, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Makele, Lampard, Ballack, Joe Cole, Drogba, Malouda

Man Utd: Van Der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves, Scholes, Carrick, Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez

And I predict the game will be too tight to call, with a 2-1 scoreline.

The 25-year-old Newcastle United and England midfielder made no comment as he passed through the gates of Liverpool Prison into a waiting car at 6PM.

Joey Barton had spent a week in Liverpool Prison after twice being refused bail by Liverpool magistrates.

Barton’s solicitor Daniel Weed said: “Mr Joseph Barton has been granted bail with conditions until he appears at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on January 16.”

The bail conditions were not revealed.

The lowest point for me was not England failing to qualify for Euro 2008 but Steve McClaren watching the second half of the England v Croatia game from under an umbrella.

The highest point has to be Jamie Carragher calling TalkSport defending himself from being called a “bottler” for retiring from playing  International football.

Let me know your own favourite highs and lows of 2007

I had all but forgotten the fantastic goals that leTiss had scored,  back when he was more often referred to as God. At the Dell anyway. Matt was so laid back, even when he was running at defenders he appeared  to be in slow motion.

I had the pleasure of watching Le Tissier on several occasions and i don’t think i have ever seen a better passer of the ball. He was essential to any success that Southampton had in his years as a player. Sadly he never scored in any of the games when i was present and so my memories are wrapped up in videos such as this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-b01xfi1yI

Matt le Tissier redefining the expression “lazy lob”.