Once, upon a time one of the critical elements to any successful group was its strike partnership.

Throughout the history of this game, the majority of the most decorated sides had a strike duo that could unsettle any defence that they came up against. Yet in today’s game, these duos are becoming increasingly rare, almost as rare as winning at the casino – though you can find the best places to play bonus wise from the casino bonus list from Casino-Bonus.com/UK.

The trend of playing a single frontman has proliferated the game at most levels and has achieved significant success, possibly starting with Chelsea’s Champions League victory. Spain took this one step farther when taking the novel approach of choosing no recognized striker for a lot of their Euro 2012 effort. Has the ‘two up top’ strategy gone for good or been temporarily substituted?

Football is a continuously evolving game where formations and tactics are decided by philosophies, player skills within a group and formulae needed to impose upon or restrict the team you are up against. Go really far back in time and the style for playing two strikers would have been considered radical to people utilized to wing-backs, half-backs, wingers, inside-rights and lefts, and a centre forward.

The switch to fielding just one out-and-out striker can be attributed to many distinct aspects. The first, and for some managers, the chief reason is fear. Along with the higher up you go in soccer’s food chain, the greater the fear becomes – just like when you start placing bigger bets at newcasinostar.co.uk.

You can take a peek at any of Europe’s top leagues where the financial rewards are at their best and you will find that apart from the obvious hopefuls to get silverware, the first and main priority is that the preservation of top-flight status. This boosts the protective mentality and a ‘defend from the front’ attitude. More men behind the ball equals space to be exploited and less chance of conceding.

This, in turn, is contributing to an increase in teams basing their strategy on counter-attacking football. Suck the opposition in and hit them hard and fast on the rest and in numbers. To achieve this successfully you require the proper personnel coming from the ideal areas of the field. This implies quick, skilful midfielders running directly in the resistance with pace instead of multiple forward being closely marked with their backs to target inside their own half.

Maybe this movement towards the counter-attacking game explains the plethora of those interchangeable attacking midfielders currently being utilised in high-level football. Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid are to name only a couple who have embraced the method of using just one guy in a central striking part to be encouraged by a fleet-footed, technically gifted midfield guys. Really many clubs are using players previously known as forwards in deeper-lying roles. Blame Lionel Messi.

It’s obviously completely plausible that the switch in strategic preference is due to the type of players that are easier to come by instead of locating the players to match the formation. How many truly great strikers are about these days? The evidence would suggest this number is outweighed by the prosperity of the De Bruyne, Silva, Ozil and Mata types. Can it be any wonder then that coaches are shifting styles to suit the resources they have more easily available?

For those of you who miss the old fashioned ahead pairings, do not despair. Soccer is an ever-changing world of opinions. If you wait around long enough, just like anything else, it is going to come back into fashion. Until then here are some duos in the past who establish that when it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Power, speed, skill and finishing prowess. Certainly the ultimate forward mix. Deadly in and about the box from open play or set plays. Magical players.

Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush (Liverpool)

The two great goalscorers however that was a pairing of one man’s brain and vision along with also the others predatory instincts.

Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas (Real Madrid)

A partnership of mythical proportions. Dominated European competition during its infancy. Sublime skill from a single and terrifying pace from another. Made a good team into a great one.

Gary Lineker and Peter Beardsley (England)

Not so much a venture as a telepathic relationship. A fantastic finisher though Lineker was, Beardsley supplied all the bullets.

Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole (Manchester United)

Always seemed to understand where another one was and as such struck up a profitable partnership that could spearhead a treble-winning achievement. Effective pairing directed on the lineup to World Cup glory.

Chris Sutton and Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)

Worked well enough in tandem to acquire a Premier League title with lots of goals. So good they even had a nickname-SAS.