Much like Premier League sticker albums and Pro Evolution Soccer, strike partnerships are the hallmark of a forgotten era for English football fans.
We now live in a world where Lionel Messi is the ultimate 'false 9' and the planet's greatest goalscorer – Cristiano Ronaldo (sorry, Harry Kane) – plays on the left wing. Even the usually archaic England football team seems content with playing Danny Welbeck up front on his own and Wayne Rooney in central midfield.
Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side pretty much changed the game and 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formations have taken over world football. We still believe in 4-4-2. Here's the 10 best strike partnerships in Premier League history.
10. Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
9. Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn
8. Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore
Club: Liverpool
Season: 1995/96
Combined goals: 42
Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore represented a bright future for English football in the mid-90s. The Liverpool duo were one of the most exciting tag teams that the Premier League had ever seen, ousting Merseyside legend Ian Rush to the bench.
Collymore turned provider for most of 1995/96 season, but is famous for scoring the winning goal in the game that's considered the greatest in English football's modern history – Liverpool's 4-3 win over Newcastle.
7. Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley
6. Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand
5. Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie
Club: Manchester United
Season: 2012/13
Combined goals: 38
Robin van Persie became public enemy number one in North London when he switched Arsenal for Manchester United in 2012, but it was worth the controversy for Sir Alex Ferguson – the Dutchman scored the goals that won Manchester United the Premier League title in Fergie's final season.
The arrival of RVP signalled Wayne Rooney's gradual decline into a deeper role, which may not look so great under Louis Van Gaal, but proved to be a tactical masterstroke under Ferguson. Rooney became Paul Scholes 2.0, scoring important goals and spraying magical passes into van Persie – remember THAT goal against Aston Villa?
4. Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez
Club: Liverpool
Season: 2013/14
Combined goals: 52
For a few months in 2014, it seemed English football had turned the clock back thirty years – Manchester United were struggling in mid table, Liverpool were pushing for the league title and, most shockingly, a strike partnership was changing the face of the Premier League. Together, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge are finest front two the top flight has seen in the past decade, even defying the 'little and large' strike partnerships that had previously defined some of English football's most famous front lines.
The 52 goals they scored as a pair set a new record for number of goals scored in a 38-game Premier League season, while Luis Suarez was so good that he almost made us forget about the actions that made him the most hated man in English football. Unfortunately for Liverpool – and Daniel Sturridge in particular – Suarez moved to Barcelona in summer 2014.
3. Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton
2. Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp
1. Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole
Club: Manchester United
Season: 1998/99
Combined goals: 35
Ask any Manchester United fan why they won an unprecdented treble in 1999 and their answer will probably be the same: Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole. Sir Alex Ferguson brought Yorke to Old Trafford from Aston Villa at the start of the 1998/99 season and he immediately connected with Cole on and off the pitch.
They scored 35 league goals between them in 1998/99 but arguably their most famous goal as a front pair came against Barcelona in the Nou Camp. It's a goal that demonstrated every iota of the telepathic understanding the duo somehow seemed to have. Watching Man United had never (begrudgingly) been so fun.