Umbro Stealth Pro II Play Test
With it being FA Cup weekend, we thought it would be appropriate to put both the Umbro Stealth Pro II football boots and the FA Cup Neo Pro football through their paces for a SoccerBible Play Test...
The Umbro Stealth Pro II may not necessarily be everyone's first choice, but at around £90 GBP / $140 USD / ¥12000 JPY and endorsed by Premier League and international footballers like Phil Jagielka, they present great value on the current boot market.
Our first reaction to the new Umbro Stealth Pro in hand, is that although we may not be sold on the unsubtle Umbro logo at the front, the white and blue actually makes for quite a classy combination. For these second generations Umbro have gone for a leather upper, and the padded toe area feels nice and soft with the heel counter feeling rigid and secure.
With the boots first on they feel surprisingly comfortable with a good natural fit, Umbro have opted for a non fussy tongue that's a single piece of leather with a very slight padded section stitched to the back. As mentioned, the heel counter and boot collar area is rigid to lock the heel in, and the instep, outstep and toe area are all comforted by padded leather all forward of the blue stripe that cuts across the boot.
As far as boot weight is concerned, the Stealth Pro II is being marketed as a Power boot so it comes up light in this category, however you can feel the outsole and sole-plate adds weight so it's never going to rival a speed boot.
When a leather upper is used 9 times out of 10 you're going to get good ball touch and feel, and when we started to knock the Umbro Neo ball around this was indeed the case. It is by no means a 'second skin' feel as the upper is quite thick, but you feel the benefit of this when you put your foot through the ball, as the umbro stitching and padding is reminiscent of the principles used for the Laser III.
Putting the ball aside for a moment it was time for a few running and turning drills, and for a Power boot the sole-plate of the Umbro Stealth II is an impressive feature. The configuration is similar to a Legend, and with all the studs tapered you can expect good ground penetration. The boot is designed to help improve control and performance with the ball, and as they aren't lightweight like a GT they have a good sole plate to help improve turning.
With the play test session ticking on, it was a genuinely nice surprise how comfortable the Umbro Stealth still felt, feeling very natural on the foot and seemingly not needing a breaking in period. And now we'd reached the most exciting part where we'd get to smash a few balls around!
Striking the ball and shooting was good, the boots feature a nice padded striking zone and though the lacing system is central you get the impression it's asymmetrical due to the stitching. The leather does offer you a feel and confidence for where the ball is going, however the boots do not benefit from any additional power or control technology. So in that respect, if we were going to be really harsh you could just be using a glorified leather boot.
Hitting the ball around also gave us the chance to get a feel for the FA Cup Umbro Neo Pro ball. Over the last 12 months with both the adidas Jabulani and Nike Tracer, ball performance has come under scrutiny and first impressions of the Neo Pro were good, striking the ball it feels heavier than the Jabulani but lighter than the Tracer.
Although the Neo Pro may not benefit from a textured surface we found in the damp conditions we were playing this didn't matter, as the ball surface almost felt 'tacky' which gave good ball touch and control. However, the flight of the ball was the most interesting aspect as once again a manufacturer has claimed their 'truest' ever ball flight, yet once again this doesn't quite seem to be the case. Don't get us wrong, the ball flies true and there's no deviation like a Jabulani, but you will never eradicate slight ball movement and for the Neo Pro there is slight ball movement when stuck with power from distance.
Back to the Umbro Stealth Pro II football boots, and we just wanted to project the boot's durability and offer a summary. To feel and play in these boots they seem to have excellent durability, the leather is good with seemingly quality stitching, and we can't see there being any problems with the sole-plate or heel counter. Down the years these boots will be able to take some wear and tear, and the leather upper is going to form to the shape of your foot. It could be said that this is an over-hyped leather boot as there is no additional technology, but bearing in mind the boots price it definitely seems you're getting value for money with the Umbro Stealth II.
