When you think back to the best teams in the short history of the Premier League, there is a common thread that runs through most, if not all of them, and that is a successful front two partnership. Arguably this is the most important department for a team to get right if they want to be successful in hunting down titles. It’s important to keep it tight at the back, but some of the more stingy defences in the Premier League have never won the title, and generally it’s those with a combination of the two that go on to the most remarkable success, and are remembered as great sides.

Take Liverpool. In Sami Hyypia and Stefan Henchoz, and then Hyypia and Jamie Carragher, they have had possibly the best and most consistent centre-back partnerships in the league, but still never finished top. It’s those with the consistent firepower as well as a solid defence that do well.

Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez are beginning to look like they might just be the most exciting partnership we have ever seen in the Premier League. If they can stay fit, the title, and not a few other trophies, seem destined for Old Trafford. But before we go overboard with the plaudits, it's worth looking back at some of the other great forward partnerships.

The first great front pairing to truly terrorise defences was Blackburn’s SAS – Chris Sutton and Alan Shearer. In 1994-5, they, along with manager Kenny Dalglish and financial backer Jack Walker, took unfashionable Blackburn Rovers to their first league title since 1914. And they remain the only team outside of the usual suspects of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea to take top spot.

'Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez are beginning to look like they might just be the most exciting partnership we have ever seen in the Premier League'


What they achieved remains unprecedented and was largely due to the goal haul of their two main strikers. They were powerful and direct, strong enough to take on the most uncompromising of defenders, and were lethal in front of goal. That championship season Shearer bagged a phenomenal 34 goals and Sutton a very respectable 15. The total of 49 goals remains the highest of any front two in Premiership history. The only trouble was, when things weren’t going well there was no ‘plan B’ for these two. There was little guile or inventiveness in their game – if they couldn’t batter the door of the defence down they were stuck. Blackburn had to resort to frustrating long balls and hopeful punts upfield, mostly this told in games against the other top sides who weren’t so easily intimidated.

Manchester United duo Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, who in 1998-9 scored 35 times and netted a further 39 goals in 1999-2000, were both brilliant goal poachers. Cole and Yorke helped fire Manchester United to the treble in that remarkable 1998-9 season, playing a massive part in the Champions League campaign. But the final of that competition showed their main weakness. Very often on the big occasion, one or both of them would go missing and have a quiet game. Unlike Shearer, for example, if they weren’t in the mood, as a pair they could be anonymous and quiet, contributing little to the team effort, and forcing the manager to substitute them. They were also physically weak, and were often out-muscled by more powerful defenders, and relied heavily on the likes of Ryan Giggs and David Beckham to play them in. If the midfield suppliers were having a bad game, Yorke and Cole could do little to change the team’s fortunes.

Finally, we turn to the cultured Arsenal pair of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp in Arsenal’s title season of 2001-02. With the combination of Henry’s speed and finishing, and Bergkamp’s sublime skill and inventiveness the pairing were brilliant to watch. With the Dutchman pulling the strings in the hole behind Henry, they could slice through almost any defence at will. The only thing they lacked was a large haul of goals. A total of 31 is a small amount compared to the two pairs mentioned above, and if Bergkamp had managed more than nine perhaps the title race would have been wrapped up far earlier, and Arsenal would have made a bigger impact in the Champions League.

So what is it that gives the Rooney-Tevez combination the potential to been even greater than the partnerships above? It is simply the fact that as a pair they are the complete article. Where the others all had a major flaw or weakness, such as lack of strength, or inventiveness, Rooney and Tevez display no such Achilles heel.

They are quick and powerful, rarely out-muscled. They are equally at home with the spectacular as with the art of goal poaching. But what makes them so devastatingly effective is that they have enough guile and cunning to open up any defence – as Rooney’s audacious back heel against Middlesbrough last weekend showed. The opposition never know what is coming next from them. They swap position, go wide, drop back, charge forward – they are a nightmare for any defence to cope with. Not only that but they have developed a very good understanding of each other’s game very quickly, which is ominous for the other teams in the top flight.

The only blot on their copybook is both have a bit of a temperament problem, but if that is kept in check then they will be devastating. Admittedly, Manchester United have not won anything with them yet, and the title race is still wide open, but with these two up front surely success will not be long in coming.

Who do you rate as the best ever strike partners? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.