Nike’s dominance over the sporting world is undeniable. The only battleground that they haven’t had a significant advantage (maybe the running performance market as well as well?) is perhaps football/soccer. Then again, shame on adidas if they can’t hold their ground having been the quintessential football/soccer brand for so long but advertising dollars do speak volumes. Over the years since the Tiempo’s (a model which has since made in-roads in the lifestyle realm) first appearance back in ’94 with the huge block-font heel logo and thick Swoosh, I think Nike Football/Soccer has developed a solid line of offerings on the football/soccer stage. The Mercurial line has by far been their greatest asset though as I feel that they’ve been un-touched in producing and marketing “lightweight” boots. A feature that I really don’t give two shits about but one that I’m sure the kids love to hear. As well, the quantifiable nature of weight and ounces makes it a great marketing angle I figure. But, tell me how those 6-studs feel when your foot gets stepped on at that next corner kick haha.

I’ve never really strayed from The 3 Stripes, I’ve worn very minimal stints with the Puma Shudoh v1 (good boot except the molded outsole was shit and the studs fell off), Puma King Top Classics (eh ok boot) and various budget offerings as a kid like Mitre (how embarrassing, it was the on-field equivalent of wearing Brooks). I did have a pair of Match Mercurials but unfortunately I bought a size too big off eBay. So essentially, my crack at the Nike CTR360 Maestri FG is my first real Nike experience. I had the chance to wear the boot over a few different sessions to give it a decent battery of tests.

An initial mini-review/insight can be seen here.

A clear look at the memory foam/injected Pass Pad instep as well as the stud configuration.

Constructions & Materials
I’ve always felt that from much of the Nike Football/Soccer product I’ve handled has often gone hand-in-hand with a high-quality product. There are no exceptions here as everything seems very much on point throughout the construction of the boot. The upper is largely seamless and pretty close to being one piece although there is visible stitching across the toebox. I can’t know for sure the production methods but from the looks of things, the boot was molded with its various textures together as one. That is, the different sections of the boot despite looking and feeling different are molded as one otherwise it’s a REALLY CLEAN glue job. The Kanga-Lite upper is slated as a material that offers various kangaroo leather-like properties throughout. I actually, I’m not 100% on that cause it doesn’t specifically state that in the literature, but I think it would be intuitive to assume putting the words “Kanga” into a football/soccer boot would evoke thoughts of kangaroo leather. I deem kangaroo leather as a superior material for boots not so much for its touch (touch is totally an issue of judgement and little to do with the thickness of materials between the ball and your foot) but for its ability to mold and fit the foot of the wearer. Along the upper are some areas in which the material is raised up, sort of like an isolation spot. It’s more prominent on the outside of the boot in which Nike Football/Soccer has so eloquently given them the name “lateral forefoot dampening pods” which are meant to help with touch. The front instep contains a smooth but still visible isolated portion as well. But the boot doesn’t offer any substantial swerve help like other boots out there. With a synthetic Kanga-Lite upper, you do gain some other additional properties that traditional natural kangaroo leather doesn’t have. This means boots that don’t retain water during those downpours, perceived better durability as well as maintenance-free wear. There’s a rubberized “Pass Pad” zone on the instep which is meant to enhance accuracy and power. I actually thought it helped a bit with an additional zip or maybe I am just fooling myself. In reality, instep passing is the easiest pass to make on the pitch and if you’re passing for distance, you’re probably hitting the ball with your laces anyways to get it there in a hurry so I find this a bit of a moot technology.

Fit
The boot does come in as being more narrow than the adidas Predator X FG but with the Kanga-Lite I was hoping this wouldn’t be an issue at all. Any out of the box advantage the Predator X would have been be circumvented by the fact the CTR360 would stretch appropriately. Unfortunately I was wrong. Despite 5-6 sessions (roughly 10-12 hours of wear), they still don’t really feel all that good. Right out of the boot bag they fit perfectly… but a few minutes into a session and as your feet swell, I can feel pressure on my left bigtoe (the larger of my two feet) and the pain doesn’t really subside. As well, the boot doesn’t have a really good lock-down fit due to the more conventional style of lacing. I think I prefer full internal lacing cause it not only does it offer a flatter surface but it has the ability to really secure the foot better. According to Nike, the approach to lacing is anatomically engineered. However I just felt full internal lacing all the way to the top as opposed to just the first two rows would have been better. The heel cup is well constructed and does help achieve a good fit. Touching back on the fit, even my F50i Tunits seem to stretch out better with noticeable bulges that contour my foot (but overall the CTR360 is a better boot anyways).

Traction
Traction was good, between adidas TRX and Nike’s bladed offerings, I see minimal if any differences. As I touched upon in the Predator X interview, I have no reason to ever go back to conical studs again except maybe 6-studs. The fact that the fit wasn’t as good as it could be didn’t really hamper traction either.

“Lateral forefoot dampening pods”… Nike wins at the nomenclature game haha

Miscellaneous
The boot is marketed as one for the playmakers and whether or not that holds true, I don’t really know. I don’t think I’m well-versed enough as an outfielder to really make credible statements on what sort of boot one style really needs. The instep injected “Pass Pad” seems to work, I’m still somewhat skeptical but it doesn’t really come in as a detriment to the boot itself. Aesthetically, I think the boot looks awesome and one of the best looking debut colorways for any boot as of late on the market. This is a much different move from the hideous Total 90 Laser III debut colorway in a throw-up of Jolly Rancher colors or adidas white/yellow Predator X (B-O-R-I-N-G). Nike’s always been good about packaging their boots with some added bonus which in this case is an un-pictured nylon boot bag/mini-backpack. Right around the first debut of the Total 90, I remember this was a staple amongst tons of kids as they could essentially go to training with little more than the small scale bag hanging off their backs. I’m pretty sure that Nike and adidas would go on to sell more of these bags separately as well.

The Final Word
I really wanted to like this boot, I really did. To me the main selling point for this boot and any boot for that matter lies in the materials of the upper. The inclusion of a material meant to mimic kangaroo leather immediately garnered a lot of attention for me. But after so many sessions, the boot still hasn’t really broken in much like how a kangaroo leather boot SHOULD break in. I was hoping for maybe a Foamposite-like situation (another Nike moldable material used mostly on basketball shoes and the subject of Kevin Garnett/Penny Hardaway signatures in the past) in which the fit and feel would suck but would eventually evolve into an extremely comfortable experience. I won’t completely shelf the boots but things look bleak as I feel that the best fitting I can possibly get has mostly been achieved. The features marketed based on the literature is obviously quite heavy but for the most part misses the mark. I just didn’t feel as though it really had any added benefit throughout each step of the way and perhaps the thing I placed the most importance on, the Kanga-Lite is listed last on the features of the boot. But this is another case of the, “if it fits your foot fine out of the box”, expect to still be a happy camper.

I think to I should be adamantly clear, my focus on a good boot isn’t reflective of what others may consider of the utmost importance. I definitely don’t want to come across as being overly critical but I have a certain way I want my boots to fit and little else matters aside from that. I’m pretty picky on exactly how I want things to fit. Performance footwear is a combination of things but I just happen to put a large part of the criteria in the fitting. I think in other sports where you don’t rely on using your feet, there becomes less of an importance on fit and more on the overall aspect of the shoe itself. So here’s to Nike, make a true synthetic kangaroo leather material cause if there’s anybody that can do it, it’s you guys. I still don’t know of any synthetics that have the best of both worlds with k-leather fits and the added bonus of being lightweight, water-resistant and not needing polish.

Shout out to Tim Yu for the hook-up.