Laceless boots - yay or nay?

Pogue Mahone

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Sorting out xmas presents for the young fella and want to get him some boots. Most games he plays seem to involve one or more kids squatting down in the middle of the pitch to tie their laces, while the game goes on around them. Laceless boots seem like a good solution. Anyone own a pair? Any pros and cons? I can’t shake the idea your foot will be less tightly gripped and you won’t be as quick on the turn etc. Never worn a pair so can’t be certain.
 

PoTMS

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I've only tried laceless once and not a fan. I prefer laced boots because the laceless boots always felt too loose whilst playing but may be because I didn't quite have the right size. I've always worn boots half a size bigger than normal so might have been better to keep as is for laceless boots. I have a friend that plays in laceless boots though and he swears by it.
 

awop

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It takes a little bit of time to get used to but to me there wasn't a major difference. It can also vary between brands. I liked the Adidas one, couldnt stand the Nike one as i felt trapped in it.
 

GledTheRed

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Sorting out xmas presents for the young fella and want to get him some boots. Most games he plays seem to involve one or more kids squatting down in the middle of the pitch to tie their laces, while the game goes on around them. Laceless boots seem like a good solution. Anyone own a pair? Any pros and cons? I can’t shake the idea your foot will be less tightly gripped and you won’t be as quick on the turn etc. Never worn a pair so can’t be certain.
I have some lacelss five aside predators and they strangle my foot and give me cramp.

I'd get laces.
 

Needham

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Sorting out xmas presents for the young fella and want to get him some boots. Most games he plays seem to involve one or more kids squatting down in the middle of the pitch to tie their laces, while the game goes on around them. Laceless boots seem like a good solution. Anyone own a pair? Any pros and cons? I can’t shake the idea your foot will be less tightly gripped and you won’t be as quick on the turn etc. Never worn a pair so can’t be certain.
Unless he still believes in Santa why not take him to JD and let him try them on for feel. You could also buy him 2 pairs, one with laces, one without.
 

Raees

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Sorting out xmas presents for the young fella and want to get him some boots. Most games he plays seem to involve one or more kids squatting down in the middle of the pitch to tie their laces, while the game goes on around them. Laceless boots seem like a good solution. Anyone own a pair? Any pros and cons? I can’t shake the idea your foot will be less tightly gripped and you won’t be as quick on the turn etc. Never worn a pair so can’t be certain.
On 4G, laceless is fine. But on grass, where you need more support for the ankle and tighter feel around the foot.. laces is still king. Good quality laces tied up once will not come loose, so pay attention to the material of the laces and if they're crap see if you can find your own and put them in if the shoe overall is what your lad wants.
 

Abizzz

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Sorting out xmas presents for the young fella and want to get him some boots. Most games he plays seem to involve one or more kids squatting down in the middle of the pitch to tie their laces, while the game goes on around them. Laceless boots seem like a good solution. Anyone own a pair? Any pros and cons? I can’t shake the idea your foot will be less tightly gripped and you won’t be as quick on the turn etc. Never worn a pair so can’t be certain.
The cons include him constantly being asked if he's not learned to tie his laces yet. (Dependent on his age some comments on his intellect)
 

OleBoiii

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As a kid I would hate it, but I've always been pretty extreme when it comes to shoe fit. If the shoe is even marginally loose then I immediately tighten the laces. By removing the laces entirely you also remove the opportunity to get a tight fit.
 

randomhero

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Sorting out xmas presents for the young fella and want to get him some boots. Most games he plays seem to involve one or more kids squatting down in the middle of the pitch to tie their laces, while the game goes on around them. Laceless boots seem like a good solution. Anyone own a pair? Any pros and cons? I can’t shake the idea your foot will be less tightly gripped and you won’t be as quick on the turn etc. Never worn a pair so can’t be certain.
Bold part is very true, unless the fit is EXACTLY 100% right. I think there is hight possibility that the boots will not fit correctly, and in case of laceless boots they need to match foot almost like they were custom made.
If they dont then there is nothing you can do, there are no laces to adjust the fit.
However if you really want to buy laceless I would recommend go for some if the high end models, because the fit on mid or low ends is not very good.
But that also means you are going to spend 180+ pounds on boots and for that price you can almost anything else.
 

Nevilles.Wear.Prada

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Laceless= digital, quantized, fit or doesnt fit.
Laced= analog, therefore fits a range that can be manually adjusted game to game, depending on how thick the socks is on that day.
 

kouroux

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Nay for me, bought them once but after using them for a month they just stopped fitting and as comfortably and tightly as before. I went back to classic boots with laces
 

Chipper

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Are velcro boots a thing? If not, why not.
Maybe I've only ever used poor quality velcro but wouldn't kicking the ball or an opponent catching your foot possibly undo them ? Would imagine decreased performance in the rain/mud too.

I hereby propose straps and buckles, don't care if they'd injure opponents.
 

sidsutton

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Are velcro boots a thing? If not, why not.
they are, my eldest had them for a year at 6 years old (Nike fluorescent orange). We've switched back to laces now he has grown out of them. His laces still come undone though so maybe I need to look at getting better laces. I've seen some that have some rubber dots incorporated so they don't become undone as easily.