Most football boots are easy to define. For adidas, the COPA is comfort, Predator is power & control, and the X is speed. But the Nemeziz is agility, a trait much harder to define. As the dust settles on the launch of the Nemeziz 19+ we slip on the laceless silhouette to see what its latest makeover is all about.
Yep, totally aware that these "Laced Up" articles feature very little lacing up anymore. But we've committed to it so we'll have to play on... anyway... the Nemeziz 19. Visually, the Nemeziz 19+ is probably the most intriguing adidas design to date, especially off foot when the collar curls up, so naturally it’s a boot that has us keen to see how it performs. The chrome style finish underfoot and unique upper is a look that has us hooked, but how does it stack up on pitch? Let’s go…
While it might look like a tangled web of frustration in terms of slipping the boot on your foot, it’s actually a very simple task. The Tensiontape around the ankle opening easily stretches and let’s you slip the boot on with ease. You won’t need the shoehorn in the box, which is a relief because imagine the sheer amount of abuse you’d endure by pulling out a shoehorn in the changing room. Give that to your nan, old people love shoehorns.
Once you’ve wrapped your feet in the warm waters of TensionTape, the build of the Nemeziz starts to reveal itself. Like all the adidas laceless creations that we’ve seen for the last few years, the boot has a very tight squeeze across the entirety of the boot. The part where the top of the tongue would sit on a standard boot build does have an extra inner strap to try and increase lockdown, but the feel isn’t too different from the rest of the boot. This Nemeziz is actually incredibly thin, with the only real areas of padding found in the heel.
Jumping straight from that build, it should come as no surprise that the no nonsense upper and lack of padding gives this boot a super thin feel on the ball. When you’re dribbling at pace, the Nemeziz 19 makes you feel that there’s nothing between you and the ball. Basically the ball never feels stuck under your feet like some leather boots do. The entirety of the boot gives a super uniform feel, meaning that you’ll be getting that ever-desired “barefoot feel” no matter how you’re addressing the ball.
Passing and shooting are exactly what you’d expect from a boot that’s giving you the feel of the Nemeziz 19. Expect everything to absolutely ping off of your boot and for you to have to be on your game to take all the heat out of a zipped pass or bringing a lofted ball out of the air. It’s a sensation that the boot world once craved, but it might be something that loses many of the Nemeziz fans that have come to love the perfectly padded feel that older Nemeziz models had on offer.
On the flipside of all that, there won’t be anything to protect you if that overzealous defender decides that he needs to implant a stud in your foot with extreme force. Is there some type of connection between the medical bandages you’ll need and the ones now laced on your feet? At the top level of the game this boot is designed for the player who are quick enough to dodge those tackles…
The soleplate for the newest Nemeziz does exactly what we expect in that you don’t really notice it. A mix of conical studs and ovals means that this set-up works on all firm ground pitches. We also feel like this set-up does itself justice even when the ground is a bit wetter than what we’d expect. The studs are a bit too long for us to say that these are an ideal AG-choice, so it might not be a great choice if you spend most of your time on artificial pitches.
Even though the upper has been stripped back on the new Nemeziz, the comfort is still worthy of a top-tier release. The padding in the heel, the way that the boot wraps your foot, and the stretch/flex of the TensionTape means that this isn’t a boot that will have you wailing for actual medical bandages. There is a slight break-in period, but the boot softened up fairly quickly during a few sessions. The forefoot is covered in a thin layer of synthetic coating that doesn’t soften up as much as we would have liked, but we’re not complaining too much.
Don’t expect any issues from the split-sole. There’s the right amount of flex to keep your foot from feeling strapped to a block of wood, but the right amount of stiffness to make sure the boot is responsive when making quick movements.
The final question during testing is what faces every laceless boot: what about the lockdown? You never feel like you’re running on a banana peel with studs, but there’s still just that slight bit of lockdown that’s lacking. We’ve certainly said it before, but if a brand can somehow match the lockdown and fit of a laced boot with the removal of the laces - jackpot. The Nemeziz 19+ perhaps puts too much dependence on the strap that is placed right under where the top of the tongue would be on a standard boot.
The latest Nemeziz 19 is still a great boot, but does it differentiate itself enough from boots within the adidas stable? We’re still not overly sure players truly get what it’s about. Agility, again, is hard to package up.
A barefoot feel is always going to be something that the market craves, but adidas are already giving us that with the new and improved X 19. For the Nemeziz, we kinda wanted the slightly more padded sensation that the previous models afforded us. The incredible fit is still there, and the comfort is still ever-present. Will we ever find the level of lockdown that’s still lacking in these laceless boots? For the first time since the introduction of the Nemeziz, the excitement is starting to give way to a few too many questions.
We’re still 100% here for the craziness of the adidas Nemeziz and the innovative nature of it, but we’re still missing a clear reason to opt for it instead of the X, COPA or Predator.
Shop the full adidas Nemeziz 19+ football boots collection at prodirectsoccer.com
