Soccer Cleats 101 Soccer Cleats News and Reviews
Over the weekend, Wayne Rooney suffered what was a pretty traumatic injury to his right quad compliments of a stray Hugo Rodellega boot. The result was a “6-inch long x 1-inch deep” gash that is set to keep Rooney sidelined for several weeks.
If you are familiar or have read about the incident, one thing is clear; it was definitely Rodellega’s boot that inflicted the seemingly rare injury, and a pair of Nike Vapor VIII are in question.
Going back to my review of the Nike Vapor VIII, I pulled the following quote:
An area that has it positives and negatives is the soleplate and those blades. I can tell you that they offer solid traction right through wear and they do feel very springy off the surface. So, in theory they do exactly as Nike advertise! But, the blades are thin and as a result I found the edges to be slightly sharp. I haven’t read the rule book, but I would be interested in finding out if there is any rules that determine how wide a blade should be. I have no problems with the blades on my own boots, but as a winger I do not want to be on the end of a tackle from a player wearing them!
Jump below for more images and more details on Rooney’s injury.
Before jumping to conclusions, there is no evidence as to which stud or blade inflicted the actual injury and it does seem like a pretty freak occurrence. My quote above is taken from the FG review – Rodellega was wearing the professional SG Pro configuration.
I have watched the incident several times on TV and studied images, and it was definitely some part of the forefoot that caused the injury. I am not implying that the inner forefoot blade (seen in red on the images below) was the direct cause, but it certainly seems like it might have played some sort of role in causing the skin to tear apart. The sharp edge could easily have pierced the skin as Rodellega landed down, dragging his foot back toward him.
Another theory surround the 11mm aluminum, detachable, forefoot studs. Again, the shape of this stud produces a thin tip that could easily break the skin with enough force.
As reference, the Nike Vapor VIII worn by Rodellega are the White/Black/Solar Red colorway. This was the colorway released as part of the Clash Collection this summer, as worn by many of the top players at Euro 2012. It goes without saying that I don’t directly recommend the SG Pro version, but it is available to add to Nike ID boots for those that are interested.
The latest on Rooney? Well, I pulled the below from The Telegraph.
The main risk with a serious wound is infection, says Fellow of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine Dr Mike Loosemore.
My main concern with an injury like the one Wayne Rooney suffered is whether or not the wound has been infected. Bacteria and dirty material like soil can easily interfere with the wound by getting into the tissue so I hope they cleaned it well. If they did, the stitches should stay in for a week or 10 days. Any torn muscle takes a while to repair so it had to be sewn up directly. If the muscle has been torn then it could take a minimum of six weeks to heal. Likewise with a cut muscle, as both injuries are treated in the same way. It is a very awkward place to injure yourself, with the tear just above the right knee, an area that’s constantly moving. Bending it will put the wound under more tension.
What are your thoughts on the injury and have you any experience with the Nike Vapor VIII blades? Leave your comments below, I am interested to hear what you think about the incident.
should be banned forever, indefinitely. just stick with FG studs.
Even FG studs would have caused damage…Nike needs to change the blades to this boot, or more of this will happen.
In a sport where stepping on people/very thin uppers are quite normal, extra sharp blades seem like the wrong thing to add into the mix
If there are no regulations put in place.. how thin could these studs get? I think that the cleat companies should be held responsible to making their boots safe.
Studs capable of causing such a severe injuy should definitely be banned. I was watching this game live and was horrified that a gash of this magnitude could be caused by the studs of a football boot. It was a freak accident but could you imagine what would happen if such an injury happed to a player's stomach or neck? That would be bad. Ironically I think Sir Alex banned his players from using bladed studs several years ago because of injury fears.
Bladed, or detachable SG metal? Many cleats have “bladed” studs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/…. He didn't specfiy which type of bladed studs. But yes, you're correct in saying many cleats have bladed studs. Are all "bladed" studs capable of inflicting such a severe injury? I don't know. I've worn soccer boots with bladed studs for years and I never thought they's were sharp enough to lacerate skin. Or are the studs on the Vapors particulary sharp compared to other studs? But clearly the issue needs to be examined furthur
Yes the studs on the vapor 8, both the FG and SG pro vesions are VERY SHARP
Look at the pictures above…These are clearly thinner than any bladed studs on the market for football.
Actually nike should be charged by Fifa for the design of the SG cleats. And Referres should not allow player to use too pointy SG Cleats.
I honestly think nike should go back to the stud design of the old vapors. Also i know this is off topic but rvp looks like he's pretending to be a t rex in the picture above.
It is interesting to see what is done by Nike, considering he is one of their highest paid sponsors.
metal studs? no real reason for them, risk is far greater than the reward. same can be said for sharp blades
Bryan, I was wondering when many of the soccer boot sites I read daily would cover this! I remember reading your review and in particular about the studs. When I saw the injury I turned and said to my mate, 'the blades on those boots are super sharp you know'. He wondered where I got such insight from! But yeah totally agree on this some of the blades these days are so sharp. People thing SG studs can be sharp but they get quickly rounded off once used. Also the ref will check them for sharp edges before the game.You would only get an injury such as Rooney's with a slicing motion from a blade.
Ban them! Most dangerous stud design ever. Can’t believe FIFA allows this.
I'm not sure what to make of this. I firmly believe no action needs to be taken as this is simply a one off encounter, if something like this was happening on a weekly basis, then yes, FIFA should take a stand. But for an odd case like this? Nope. Yes the blades on the Vapor VIII are sharp, but this is something which helps the user, not a random inclusion to the boot.
Like it was stated above…What if this was a "one off " injury to the neck? Would you be still saying they are not too dangerous to play in?
And who is to say these kinds of injuries are not happening on a weekly basis? These boots and boots like it are being used at all levels of play. Just because it is not televised does not mean it is not happening.
this post is really awesome and the nike vapor line blade design can be dangerous cuz i was cut too not as bad as rooney's around the top of my ankle and it wasnt even the new vapors it was the lime green two series back Now when defending i keep an eye out on the studs of nike vapor users
Physicist here.
When you compare the molded plastic blades verus the metal SG studs, the ones that are sharper are the molded plastic blades. The SG are less likely to break skin.
The SG studs are round and the molded have acute angles to them. What is sharper, a dull blade or one that has a thin blade? Why knives work is because they are “wedges”. The smaller the point/sharper the angle the more likely it is to invade into another material, in this case Rooney’s leg.
I’ve yet to handle the Vapor VIIIs, but the FG blades actually look sharper than the SG studs. Adidas Traxion studs are really dangerous as well. The triangle shape on those gives you a very acute angle which creates a better wedge.
good traction. just unfortunate.
I knew something like this was going to happen. All cleats should go through an approval process set by FIFA for this very reason. The designers at Nike aren't idiots they sure would have known something like this was on the cards. Those blades are very thin and sharp. Nike should have changed their design slightly to minimise the chance of something like this happening. Anyway I ware and prefer conical studs. They offer more manoeuvrability (less chance of locking into the grass causing injury), they also offer the greatest stability. Add to that they are the least likely off all stud patterns to cause this kind of injury to another player in a stiff challenge. Some of the greatest players currently still prefer conical studs over blades, that says it all.
I have also preferred conical studs as well for those very reasons!
My sweet & middle finger are broken when my mate layed down his LZ on my fingers, that was a more "normal-shaped" stud could done to me, and as result, the more sharper stud could done to Rooney, i definitely say yes that the stud was causing his injury
And in my opinion, things like these are just get immensily-over-worried-about, well you know that football is a very immense body contact sport, what you would be if you wanted this sport could just be any more boring sport that has no "accident" like these
What i said is my concern about what will football nowadays be, and about the accident Vapor VIII are a way too extreme that caused this injury, but i hope that you mates, won't be scared just because of "skin piercing studs"
I dont't know what type of cleats the other player was wearing, but my son suffered a similar injury two days agao in a game. The cleat sliced just below my son's knee leaving him with a 5 1/2 inch gash that rquired 4 internal stiches and 14 external stitches, 18 total. He'll be out for several weeks. Hard to believe a cleat could cause so much damage.