Another laceless boot to review, this time the Adidas Copa 20+. It's an interesting boot, one which, in our list of boot reviews so far, has a lot of challengers to fight off. The Adidas Predator 20+, in terms of laceless feature, the new 2021 Adidas Copa Sense .1, not to mention the pressure it comes under from the Nike Tiempo Legend 8 and the Puma Ultra 1.1. It's a tough battlefield but how does the Copa 20+ fare?
Get the Darjeeling on the boil, read on and find out.
We've spoken a lot before about the Copa Series in the Copa Sense review (which you can read here: https://footballclubse7en.wixsite.com/fcse7en/post/adidas-copa-sense-1) so we don't want to go into the history too much. The key selling point of the Copa is touch and comfort. With that marketing, you'd expect to be feeling these qualities but it's not always as simple as that.
The Copa Gloro 20.2 was a really poor boot, the fit was so bad, strangulation on the mid foot was unbearable and the whole boot was so rigidly applied to the sole plate, that I felt, the wear in time wasn't acceptable even for a takedown model. So, I was interested to see if this was an issue throughout the whole series.
Out of the box, the Copa looks sexy. I know a few folks (Frodo, Tey, Jumbo, Billy Whizz) who really aren't fans of laceless boots, traditionalists, but if you have been following the blog, you will know that i'm very much the same. Looks-wise, initially the absence of laces didn't sit well with me on a boot.
Initially being the key word here.
The Adidas Predators 20+, completely changed my thinking. I've said before, I don't judge modern tech harshly, when it delivers and but I do when it's a gimmick. Most ballerz, know their ^&*%, so it's insulting when the big boot firms try to kid us. I wasn't sold on the exterior touchpods on the Copa Sense for example, there was a slight improvement, but the Predator laceless 20+ model felt tight and gave me lockdown which I didn't think possible, myths were dispelled. The absence of the lacing, wasn't felt, and even made me think how necessary they are in the first place.
Don't worry, I'd fall short of ditching them, laces provide important customisation and lockdown for those of us who don't have average feet. For me, I've been lucky enough to fall in the very average foot size category, so I didn't suffer too badly from the Predator 20 series' midfoot issues. The 20+ provided me with lockdown in the heel area and sock performed really well on providing lockdown in the mid foot.
It's a similar story with the Copa 20+. The boot is soft to the touch but there's rigidity all over. The K-leather upper is supple but it's important to note, much like the newer Copa Sense, only a minimal amount is actually leather, just the toe box in the Copa 20+. Marginally more than the Copa Sense but not enough for Adidas to market it as a leather boot in my opinion.
The boot was quite hard to get on, I struggled a lot, a shoe horn is handy, but the Copa is a low cut boot, so I found this odd. The reason is because the opening of the boot is a sock which is more mesh than knit, so quite tight, and unmalleable. I felt I was twisting by foot left to right to wriggle into the boot, which can't be good for the heel plate. Whether over time, this degrades and loses its structure, will be interesting.
But once on, the boot felt nice. Very nice. I was waiting for Adidas' seemingly trademark midfoot pinch, but it never came. The ghost of Copa Gloro 20.2, exorcised? I was happily very chuffed. As I started moving around my house, I couldn't feel any initial pain or wearing in to be done. It was a new feeling, I expect newer boots to be worn in, but there was nothing here. It felt good, straight out of the box.
The main reason, and the logic would dictate this, going on my other reviews, is that the boot is looser, suffers poor lockdown or has a complete leather upper and you have bought the wrong size. The Copa's though felt tight.....not uncomfortably tight, but they hug your foot wholly and the mesh like ankle collar, is very tight, it doesn't impede you though.
I've seen a lot of other reviewers being a little critical of the burrito style collar. Saying it's restrictive, puts a lot of pressure on the top of your foot and the ankle joints. I can see why some people felt this, but like I've mentioned before, I'm very average, in general, I feel like the manufacturers are using me as the go to with sizing. For me, the sock is needed for lockdown. It ties your foot in place but not only that, it also puts the force needed around your ankle to push your ankle into the heel plate. Without this rigidity, you couldn't sacrifice the laces.
Those are the trade offs we have to make. There's no such thing as a perfect boot, which caters to everyone. If you're a fan of laceless boots, then these are the issues that you need to contend with. If you're finding the burrito overbearing, then you will have to switch to laces. I don't think it's fair to mark a boot down, for something that is needed, when a trade off has been made elsewhere.
We said the Adidas have been marketing this boot and it's features firmly towards touch and comfort.
They deliver.
The contoured upper, looks good, but it does add a layer of cushion to your touch. It takes the raw ferocity out of that animal, we call the ball, and because it is such a comfortable shoe, you can go about your business of spraying the passes around the park, like it's no one's business.
The soleplate is a fairly standard 1 piece Adidas FG piece. A little re-enforcing goes into the heel config and around the ball of your foot, I couldn't notice any difference. I've been full of praise for some of the newer 2020 sole plates, where both Nike and Adidas has experimented with 2 piece or pseudo 2-piece bases, but I do like the flexibility. The only drawback of these sole plates, is that you need to be moving all the time, so your individual position in a game and personality affect the performance.
If you tend to be in defensive positions, then they add a bit more stud pressure due to your lack of movement. The Copa adds stability and comfort for the duration of a game. After getting a few games under my belt, I can truly say, I enjoyed playing with the Copa. Comfort-wise, these boot tick the boxes, they provide a really good dampening affect when you come into contact with the ball and any woes you have slipping these on, are quickly forgotten.
If you're looking for negatives (this is a review after all), the price of the Copa is way too high. The boot is minimally made of leather, so there's no justification for a £180-200 price tag when they came out. Even now, a year on, they are £120-150, which is too high. As much as I love this boot, if you compare it to the Copa Sense, I'd say the boot is more natural feeling. It's almost more modern than it's newer relative, but the Copa Sense has some interesting features, which I need to look at more. The quad-fit inner lining, the all leather of the Nike Tiempo, mean than you are getting more bang for your buck. A lot of people are going to be looking at the Phantom GT and Nike Tiempo. I think the Copa 20+ provides more comfort than the Phantom GT, but the little things, like the midfoot barred soleplate and GT texture and close barefoot feel, make the GT stand out on it's own. Same applies to the Tiempo too.
I also think it's really important to say that the Copa 19+ is almost identical, is it harsh to penalise the boot for essentially being an upgrade, but at the same time, many 19+ fans would say, you don't need to re-invent the wheel. I kinda agree. When you change everything from the ground up, you risk having to go through the design process live all over again because it's now available to the public who will pick it to pieces. It feels as though Adidas have kinda reached the end of the road in terms of its design on this silo, so they slotted it in more as an afterthought, it won't make any big waves. If you're Copa 18 fan, then I think you'll be pleased to see it, but would you buy it?
The Copa 20+ is beautiful boot. It's good. But I just feel it came a couple of years too late. It's more a lamentation of what could of been a couple of years ago, rather than a eulogy celebrating the Copa of the last few years.
This is peak Copa...in it's traditional form. It's just, well the Copa Sense is the future
Price: £180
Fit: True to Size
Tech: Minimum Leather on upper, false advertising
Comfort: Tight fit, but never overbearing, very good lockdown. I liked the burrito, others don't
Look: They look sweet, the contours are made for football, and give it a signature
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