Widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world, Toni Kroos is known for his passing accuracy, vision, and ability to control the tempo of the game.
He currently plays for Spanish behemoths Real Madrid.
Kroos began his career at the youth academy of Hansa Rostock before moving to Bayern Munich in 2007. He made his senior debut for Bayern in 2009 and won several major titles with the club, including the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and Champions League.
In 2014, he transferred to Real Madrid, where he has won numerous domestic and international titles, including four Champions League trophies.
Having been a professional player for more than a decade, Kroos has developed a liking towards certain looks and feel of how the jerseys and general attire on the pitch should be.
One example is his white boots, which he has been wearing for a long time.
Another of his quirks was revealed this week, when, speaking to his podcast Einfach mal Luppen, the German stated his dislike for the collared football kits.
The 33-year-old midfielder detailed how the Madrid jersey this season, like the one before, has a collar and how it’s a ‘big shit’.
We have a collar again this season. A polo is not a football shirt. To all the designers, that’s big sh*t. Kits with collar are not good, they are uncomfortable and ugly.
The Madrid home jersey sports a collar and is plain white in colour with blueish stripes.
However, this is not the first time the jersey has sported a collar, with the 2018-19 and 2014-15 versions sporting one as well. So, it is possible that Toni has been harbouring this displeasure for a while.
Shirts with a collar, or polo shirts as they are called, make for uncomfortable jerseys as per Toni. The two buttons on the top make it more formal than it is supposed to be, spoiling the look.
This is not his first rodeo when it comes to Kroos talking about Madrid jerseys.
In 2021, Kroos revealed that his favourite Madrid jersey was the white-gold home edition from the 2019-2020 season.
Not everyone agrees though, with some saying that Madrid’s collar shirts are iconic and even good-looking.
But what’s the point of a good-looking jersey if a player cannot feel comfortable in it?
Adidas, Madrid’s kit suppliers and Kroos’ personal sponsor, are yet to react to the criticism levied by the player.
This is not the first time that polos have come under fire. Back in 2020, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Martin Hinteregger expressed his irritation towards the same fashion statement by cutting it off his jersey completely. Nike, the club’s kit supplier, responded by sending a custom no-collar version of the jersey to the player.
Will Adidas react the same way for the remainder of this season? Only time will tell.
Even if they don’t, Kroos can at least take some solace in the fact that Adidas have decided to give collars a skip for their kits for the upcoming season.
