by Colin the King » Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:33 am
It's a tough one.
When Ade and Tevez were playing together, even though as a team we were scoring goals, they didn't seem to suit each other. Some decent play but nothing really promising. Since Ade's been out of the team, Tevez has started scoring freely- although you could argue that's more to do with him reaching peak fitness after being injured in the summer. They could yet strike up a great partnership. RSC and Tevez looked outstanding together against Sunderland but the likelihood is that Santa will pick up injuries (only going on his career to date, it's not a criticism) so they mightn't be able to get a long stretch together.
Tevez and Bellamy have looked great as a partnership, they're both so tenacious that it must be a nightmare to defend against. The only weakness there is no height whatsoever which could be a problem against certain teams. No-one knows what will happen with Robinho, although if he is staying put I think he'd be more effective through the middle, where he plays with Brazil.
I wouldn't expect Ade to be starting anytime soon- it's going to take a while for him to sort his head out, of course, but something I'd like to see at some stage is he and RSC up front together. It'd be a different approach but a set-piece taker's dream.
So, there's no best striking partnership as such- we have different options for different situations, which is great. Thinking towards Blackburn on Monday though, I'd like to see a similar set up to Sunderland, with Tevez, Bellamy and Santa Cruz all involved. The latter two both played for them so you'd bet on them scoring and Tevez can't stop- easy this management stuff!