Revolutionary changes in football
Historic footballs:
Steps forward in all aspects of life, usually give fear and even rejection among society, of course, football and everything surrounding it, is not spared from this misfortune. People tend to be excessively critical when these events occur from time immemorial; from the first substitution in a match, to the significant change in the structure and colour of the football, from the mythical brown ball with the main seam to the black and white, pentagonal and hexagonal ball.
It is so hard for us to understand that everything can and must change, at the same pace that speed, fluidity and philosophy in football tactics are changing, the material must not be left behind, they must be the reference and the weapons with which to ‘fight’ day by day, the inseparable companions of each player.
The world of football boots is one of the most criticised sectors in the world of football, due to its technological and aesthetic changes. That is why we will review those moments in which brands took risks, were brave and succeeded, but not before receiving a lot of criticism and creating a terrible commotion among people. We will do it with clear examples, so that people become aware that generally, changes are for the better.
adidas Predator football boots:
Since the recent reintroduction of this silo a little over two months ago, many opinions agree that it is no longer a Predator. Let's go back to 1994, Predator emerged as an alternative boot, adidas launched a boot model that would revolutionize the concept of leather boot that had been seen since the origins of football, implementing technologies to the ‘weapons’ of football players around the world. At that time, the new idea of the German brand was seen as a mistake, in fact, few footballers decided to take the step towards an innovative boot and a few years later, thanks to the changes that were generated by that time, it became a symbol in the world of football. I'm left with a sentence taken from the post made about the new Predator 18 by the product specialist Pedro Mayo; ‘I'm convinced that without Predator many of the current boots would not exist. Who knows if we would still have leather boots with a reversible tongue of almost half a kilo!
Nike Mercurial football boots:
Una vida paralela vive hoy en día el nuevo lanzamiento de la nike Mercurial Vapor 360, con casi 1 semana de “vida” ha creado toda una diversidad de opiniones de, si es o no es, realmente una bota de fútbol digna para denominarse Vapor. De nuevo, nos remontamos a una fecha, esta vez a 1998, estábamos a las puertas de disputarse el Mundial de Francia y la marca americana Nike, se le ocurrió la brillante idea de ofrecerle a su estrella, Ronaldo Nazario una bota exclusiva, la conocidísima y venerada “R9”. Por aquel entonces Ronaldo era amante de las botas de piel y nike era consciente de ello, aun y todo pensaron que era momento de innovar y dar un paso al frente haciendo una bota sintética. Algo normal a día de hoy, pero que por aquel entonces, parecía todo un pecado que las botas no fueran de piel. La curiosidad reside en que nike, ocultó hasta finalizado el campeonato, el material con el que estaban confeccionadas las botas al crack brasileño. Desde entonces Ronaldo aceptó y le encantó el cambio, tanto a él, como a la mayoría de personas. El cambio que por aquel entonces nike dio de pasar de una bota de piel a una sintética, es el mismo que vemos hoy en día con el cambio del Teijin al Flyknit.
The new launch of the Nike Mercurial Vapor 360 is living a parallel life today, with almost 1 week of ‘life’ it has created a whole diversity of opinions on whether or not it is really a football boot worthy of being called Vapor. Again, we go back to a date, this time to 1998, we were on the verge of the World Cup in France and the American brand Nike came up with the brilliant idea of offering its star, Ronaldo Nazario, an exclusive boot, the very well known and revered ‘R9’. At that time Ronaldo was a lover of leather boots and Nike was aware of this, but even so they thought it was time to innovate and take a step forward by making a synthetic boot. Something normal nowadays, but at that time, it seemed a sin that the boots were not made of leather. The curiosity lies in the fact that Nike, until the end of the championship, hid the material with which the boots were made from from from the Brazilian star. Since then Ronaldo accepted and loved the change, both he and the majority of people. The change that nike made at that time from a leather boot to a synthetic one, is the same that we see today with the change from Teijin to Flyknit.
Joma football boots:
Yes, as you read, Joma, as many of you know, was the first brand to show the world a coloured football boot. It sounds commonplace and easy, but nothing could be further from the truth, many people threw their hands up in the air when they saw Alfonso for the first time, with boots that were not black. In fact, as many of you may have noticed, for a long time there were coaches who forbade their players to wear boots that were not black. Nowadays, it is perhaps curious to see a player wearing black boots.
VAR:
Possibly the great revolution on this list. Pure controversy has been generated around this new ‘hawk's eye’ system in modern football, as VAR, which debuted controversially in December at the last Club World Cup, has once again appeared on the radar of spectators, players, coaches and managers of world football. Noureddine Ambrabat, one of the main protagonists of the group stage match against the Spanish national team at the Russia 2018 World Cup, addressed the camera at the end of the match with a blunt phrase: ‘VAR is bullshit’. This new way of helping referees may not be to the liking of all fans, but it is certainly one way of helping to make the game totally fair and legal.
GPS vests:
Today's football is no longer just for sportsmen, but now we have real athletes in front of our eyes. Absolutely everything is watched and analysed in contemporary football, and the proof of this is GPS. To this end, GPS waistcoats have been developed, which we can see in the pre-seasons on some players, who wear a kind of ‘bra-vest’. Although players initially stated that they were uncomfortable to wear, over time it has been seen that the data provided to the player by the use of them offers a great help not only to improve performance, but also to help prevent injuries or heart problems.
Substitutions + the fourth change in football:
In the past, and although it may seem strange to us today, FIFA did not implement the changes until the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. It did so in response to the changes that were taking place in European football in this respect. The first recorded substitution took place in Germany in 1953 with the player Horst Eckel as the protagonist. Until then it was not even possible to substitute a player due to injury, even if it was the goalkeeper.
Once again, the match between Spain and Russia in the Round of 16 will go down in the annals of history as the first match in which a fourth substitution was made. We believe that this is a positive rule, as it will help to prevent muscular injuries, obviously bone and even heart injuries.
New versions of football boots:
In 2014, with the World Cup in Brazil, Nike presented some strange boots, or so people thought. The football boots with sock and made with thread came to the fore, criticisms such as; that sock is no good! or they are going to break! was the daily bread for those of us who dedicate ourselves to this. Another of the events was the change of generation that adidas made in 2015, eliminating silos as mythical as F50 and Predator, to give way to the new ACE and X. At that time the German brand was showered with criticism. Of course I can't forget the boots without laces, so popular today and so despised in the beginning.
Change of SP brand logo:
Nothing to do with the boots, but even here, people were very critical when our colleagues, in charge of the SP brand, decided to change the symbol of the Spanish glove brand. Comments like it won't be the same anymore! or That symbol is not the original one! were read on social media. Nowadays, people are perfectly familiar with what the SP symbol stands for.
Las demostraciones de los cambios, pueden ser interminables en el mundo del fútbol, hay que reconocer que nos cuesta aceptarlo porque cualquier cambio, por pequeño que sea, implica una renuncia, una pérdida, y en una gran proporción, siempre son para mejorar. Tengamos la mente abierta y demos la oportunidad a aquellas ideas que las marcas nos puedan traer en el futuro, ya que generalmente no suelen equivocarse y poco tiempo después, la gente se acostumbra a ellos.
The demonstrations of change can be endless in the world of football, we must recognise that it is difficult for us to accept it because any change, however small it may be, implies a renunciation, a loss, and in a large proportion, they are always for the better. Let's keep an open mind and give the opportunity to those ideas that brands can bring us in the future, as they are not usually wrong and soon after, people get used to them.
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