The game of football has been blessed with some of most exciting attacking trios which have made fans celebrate and also cry if you're on the other side of their wrath.
Manchester United possessed one of the best front threes the Premier League has ever seen when Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez partnered up at Old Trafford. All in their prime, they fired the Red Devils to two league titles and a Champions League, leaving defences in their wake.
When asked to compare by Rio Ferdinand in an interview, Tevez said they were better than frontlines from Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Carlos Tevez ranks his Man Utd front three
Tevez spoke to Ferdinand about his career and the latter took the chance to play a game of winner stays on. He tasked the former United striker with comparing some of the best attacking trios in history to his with Rooney and Ronaldo.
On Rio Ferdinand Presents, the Argentine stayed silent for Madrid's Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. He also snubbed Arsenal's Thierry Henry, Denis Bergkamp and Robert Pires before also preferring his trio to Manchester City's Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane.
Tevez also ranked United's front three above AC Milan's Kaka, Andriy Shevchenko and Hernan Crespo. He also didn't speak for Barca's Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o.
Along with Madrid's MSN, the most contentious one he remained silent for were Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Frimino. While they achieved incredible consistency and success under Jurgen Klopp, Tevez's argument for the United trio centers around their fear factor.
During the 2007/08 and 2008/09 campaigns, Tevez, Rooney, and Ronaldo were not just great footballers but also a tactical nightmare. The front three played in any space they wanted to cause damage in attack while also be able to combine as a pair or all three together. Sir Alex Ferguson would unleash Rooney and Tevez as attack dogs to force mistakes and get the ball back as quick as possible
The defensive work rate of Tevez and Rooney gave Ronaldo the opportunity to create or get on the end of chances wherever he wants. They may have not been together for long but they made an impact in the two full seasons they had together.
Better Than Barcelona's 'MSN'?
Tevez finally broke when Ferdinand put Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez to him. He suggested longevity played it's part and that had he spent more time at United with Rooney and Ronaldo they could have surpassed the Catalans.
Messi, Suarez and Neymar won games as a collective, playing the most beautiful football we may have ever seen. Statistically, 'MSN' reached numbers unheard of winning the treble in their first season together then combining for 131 goals between the three in the second.
Comparing the two frontlines is a bit like chalk and cheese with Spanish football and English football being on two different sides of the spectrum. Even though the United duo could bamboozle with their footballing ability running and intensity is what gets success in England compared to the Blaugrana's possession and one touch style.
Tevez did concede that the Barca threesome were better than him and his United strike partnership. But Ferdinand did say that if the three had played together more than two seasons they would be better.
