Our Top 5 adidas Predators
Our Top 5 adidas Predators
We pick out our top five favourite Preds of all time.
It's the most famous boot collection in football, everyone's got an opinion on the Predator timeline, on how the technology and visual changes have advanced and every player has their own favourite Predator model and we're no different. After much chopping and changing we've settled on our top 5 adidas Predators.
Each person's opinion on the Predator line is influenced by many factors; age, pro players and performance all have a say in determining your number one Predator. Whether they were your first pair or current pair, the majority of players have at some point owned them. Enough talk, here's our top 5 Preds from top to bottom...
1. adidas Predator Mania - Our favourite Predator, arguably football boot, of all time. Released for the 2002 World Cup, the Mania was Predator perfection in our eyes. The first Pred to include an elasticated tongue and white rubber panels for increased ball swerve. Every small detail on the Mania from the heel counter to the cushioned adidas logo on the instep made it the ultimate Pred. For us, when someone says adidas Predator this is the boot we think of.
2. adidas Predator Accelerator - One word - Zidane. The Accelerator was released to coincide with the 1998 World Cup in France with Zidane scoring twice in the final. It probably creeps into our top two for nostalgic reasons more than anything, those chunky three stripes and the 'adidas Equipment' logo on the heel just worked for us. A beaut of a boot that looked equally as good in the electric hi-vis paint job. 
3. adidas Predator PowerSwerve - Sneaking onto the podium and taking our Bronze is the PowerSwerve. When Steven Gerrard says this is his favourite ever Pred then you know you're dealing with a decent piece of kit. The original design brief was to produce a boot that could generate more power swerve and this resulted in the PowerSwerve featuring a removable insole to either add or reduce weight, depending on the players preference.
The PowerPulse chamber on the sole of the boot was filled with 30g of tungsten powder (a bit like sand) to give a pendulum-style effect when striking the ball with the idea being your shots would be harder. The last Pred to feature the famous elasticated tongue, technology aside the PowerSwerve is easily one of the best looking Preds of modern years, which is probably why adidas dropped over 20 colourways on it.
4. adidas Predator Absolute - The eight generation Predator landed in the shape of the Absolute, our fourth favourite model. Launched for the 2006 World Cup the Absolute arrived with thinner stripes and a touch more red than previous models. The biggest innovation for the Predator Absolute was the exchangeable PowerPulse technology on the sole, which was developed to deliver the sort of 'sweet spot' science usually found in golf clubs. Deliberately increasing the weight of the boot to increase power, hard to believe in this lightweight crazed era. 
5. adidas Predator Precision - We've had to go back over a decade to complete our top 5 Predators. The Precision had advanced from the Accelerator with a Velcro tongue covering the laces and a more streamline rubber panels to increase ball spin rather than rubber fins found on previous editions. Studs like sharks teeth, a classic Predator colourway, a majestic Predator tongue, we're thinking re-issue. Anyone else?
