I still very much doubt Rooney and Berbatov have played as a partnership more often than Tevez and Rooney Ekeke...dunno if you or anyone else has the actual stats on this it would be interesting to see....Berbatov and Rooney have very rarely played as an orthentic strike duo..
Firstly to qualify this info, it consists of premier league starts between the partnerships we're interested in. It also has champions league starts and world club championship starts and community shield starts. This is the information I have available.
If anyone has the data for carling cup and F.A cup matches that would be very useful too as I'm sure we've had a few matches where Rooney and Tevez or Rooney and Berbatov have played together. Not loads though as it would tend to be one of the 'senior' strikers paired with a less familliar partner in those matches.
Rooney + Tevez in 07/08
Chelsea home
Birmingham away
Wigan home
Villa away
Dynamo Kyiv away
Boro home
Arsenal away
Dynamo Kyiv home
Fulham home
Derby home
Liverpool away
Everton home
Newcastle home
Reading away
Spurs away
Newcastle away
Villa home
Boro away
Blackburn away
Barcelona away - Rooney played wide right in our 0 - 0 draw?
Wigan away
Chelsea champs league final
21 matches together + 1 match where I believe Rooney played on the right of midfield against Barcelona to help earn our 0-0 draw. The biggest run of matches together was 8 near the beginning of the season. And the spaces represent games that went by with Rooney starting, but with Tevez not as his partner. As the season went on, more and bigger gaps start to appear.
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Striker partnerships in 08/09 :
Portsmouth away =
Tevez+Rooney
Liverpool away =
Tevez+Berbatov with Rooney wide.
Villarreal home =
Tevez+Rooney
Chelsea away =
Berbatov+Rooney
Bolton home =
Tevez+Berbatov
Aalborg away =
Berbatov+Rooney
Blackburn away =
Berbatov+Rooney
West Brom home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Celtic home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Everton away =
Berbatov+Rooney
West Ham home =
Tevez+Berbatov
Hull home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Celtic away = Ronaldo+Tevez
Arsenal away =
Berbatov+Rooney
Villa away =
Tevez+Rooney
Villarreal away = Ronaldo+Rooney
Man City away =
Berbatov+Rooney
Sunderland home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Aalborg home =
Tevez+Rooney
Gamba Osaka = Ronaldo+Tevez
LDU Quito =
Tevez+Rooney
Stoke away =
Tevez+Rooney
Boro home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Chelsea home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Wigan home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Fulham home =
Tevez+Berbatov
Blackburn home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Inter away = Ronaldo+Berbatov
Newcastle away =
Berbatov+Rooney
Inter home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Liverpool home =
Tevez+Rooney
Fulham away = Ronaldo+Berbatov
Porto home = Ronaldo+Rooney
Sunderland away =
Tevez+Berbatov with Rooney wide
Porto away =
Berbatov+Rooney
Portsmouth home = Ronaldo+Rooney
Spurs home =
Berbatov+Rooney
Arsenal home =
Tevez+Rooney
Boro away = Berbatov+Macheda with Rooney wide
Arsenal away = Rooney+Ronaldo+Park front 3
Man City home =
Tevez+Berbatov
Wigan away =
Berbatov+Rooney
Arsenal home =
Tevez+Rooney
Barcelona = Ronaldo+Giggs with Rooney wide
Thats :
19 starts for Rooney and Berbatov
9 starts for Rooney and Tevez
6 starts for Berbatov and Tevez
10 starts with another combination
So by now Tevez and Rooney have had 30 matches as a partnership before Tevez left this summer.
Berbatov and Rooney have had the 19 from 08/09
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Berbatov and Rooney's starts together in 09/10
Chelsea (cs)
Birmingham home
Wigan away
Spurs away
Man city home
Stoke away
sunderland home
Liverpool away
Blackburn home
9 starts together so far this season. And Berbatov's biggest run of matches next to Rooney is 5 near the beginning of last season. Tevez's was 8 but I think he profited there from the fact that our next choice striker, Saha, was constantly injured. With Tevez fit last season and the likes of Welbeck and Macheda breaking through I'm not sure he was ever going to get 8 on the bounce.
So, without info from the F.A cup and league cup, which I hope someone can point me in the right direction of :
Tevez and Rooney had 30 matches starting together.
Berbatov and Rooney have had 28 matches starting together.
Almost the same by this point. And yes Berbatov is playing further forward this season, but so did Tevez last season. In his first season at United, and now in his time post United, he played/plays as a second striker. Last season, for whatever reason, when he was played he was leading the line.
So if you feel Rooney and Berbatov havent played enough together up front so far, then I hope you felt the same way about Tevez and Rooney. Because we're talking about a similar amount of time here. It looks as though Tevez is shading it at the moment (F.A cup and league cup starts could change that, but I doubt it) but at the same time, I doubt you're going to give Berbatov and Rooney 2 more matches and then decide they've had enough time.