5 instances when football duos didn't work out

Football teams depend on effective partnerships to win. Whether it be in defense, midfield or the soon-to-be-extinct strike partnership, a functioning duo could be the difference between success and failure for a club.Over the years, we have seen some amazing duos. Think back to the rock solid centre-back pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at Manchester United, or Chelsea’s brilliant coupling of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.There have been several other notable pairs over the years, take for example Manchester United’s strike partnership of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, or Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton at Blackburn.But as with everything else, there are exceptions, and certain combinations just don’t work out. Here are five examples of instances where footballing duos didn’t produce expected results:

#1 Christian Dailly and Gary Breen (West Ham)

Christian Dailly and his partner in defence didn’t do a stellar job for West Ham

Scottish defender Christian Dailly had an ok spell with the Hammers; that is until they signed Coventry’s Gary Breen on a free transfer at the beginning of the 2002/03 season. This centre-back pairing turned out to be horrific, as West Ham would find themselves relegated from the Premier League by the end of the season, for the first time in their history.

Many West Ham supporters still blame the duo for having experienced the drop. However, Dailly always believed that the Republic of Ireland international was a decent centre-back. After Breen moved on to Sunderland, Dailly had this to say before a match-up between the two teams: "Gary's a better player than we saw at West Ham, though.”

“Anyone who wins around 60 caps for your country, as Gary has done, must be a decent player.”

#2 Titus Bramble and Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle)

Bramble and Boumsong were horrendous for Newcastle

There hasn’t been a worst defensive partnership than that of Titus Bramble and Jean-Alain Boumsong in the Premier League era.These two defenders were paired back in 2005 by Graeme Souness, who was the Newcastle manager at that time.

He should have seen this coming, as Bramble had already been voted the league’s worst player of the previous campaign. Souness would sign Boumsong for £8 million, which was seen as a hefty sum back then, only to produce the most error prone defense ever.

Fortunately for Newcastle fans, the duo only lasted 18 months, as Boumsong would leave the club for a relegated Juventus playing in Serie B.

#3 Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)

One good season and one poor season from the duo

The midfield pairing of Chelsea players Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas went a long way in helping the Blues win the title last season. It was a match made in heaven and worked to perfection.

Matic, the more defensively inclined of the two, would stay back to protect the defense, while Fabregas would contribute to the offense both while sitting deep and playing in more advanced areas.

This season, however, it suddenly stopped working. Fabregas’ performance declined, and that put extra pressure on his Serbian colleague who kept making mistakes in the middle. Chelsea suffered at both ends, but more so defensively.

Guus Hiddink’s arrival saw John Obi Mikel thrust back into the midfield as a replacement for Matic, and that immediately changed the Blues’ fortunes. The Nigerian’s presence gave the team better balance, and made the system more functional.

Fabregas is now back to his old tricks, and looks a lot like the talent Chelsea signed last season. Matic, on the other hand, is slowly getting back up to standard.

#4 Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea)

Only one striker became a legend for Chelsea

Both these strikers were superstars in their own right, yet they couldn’t form an effective strike partnership during their time together at Stamford Bridge. Drogba had been Jose Mourinho’s jewel of a signing, but owner Roman Abramovic wanted the Ukrainian striker at the club as well.

Mourinho put up staunch objection, but in the summer of 2006, Shevchenko would be brought in anyway - for a fee of £30 million - from AC Milan, where he had spent seven splendid years.

Roman’s acquisition however, was less than impressive, scoring just four goals in the league in his first season, but Drogba continued to sparkle.

Shevchenko would find himself out of the starting line-up as the campaign drew to a close, much to the disappointment of the Chelsea owner, who reportedly demanded that Mourinho play the Ukrainian.

Shevchenko was loaned back to AC Milan in 2008 after Luiz Felipe Scolari was hired, and after an unsuccessful second spell in Italy, he would sign for his former club Dynamo Kyiv.

#5 Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard (England)

The pair just could not play together for England

Perhaps the most disappointing of the bunch, these two Englishmen left their clubs as absolute legends and now play Major League Soccer in the United States. Lampard was one of the best midfielders the Premier League had ever seen, and holds the record as Chelsea’s highest ever scorer with 211 goals, which is an amazing feat for anyone who isn’t a striker.

Gerrard, likewise, had a splendid career at Liverpool, but when it came to the England National team, the two just could not make it work.

England could have achieved so much if they could have gotten Lampard and Gerrard to function properly together, and it dumbfounds how two of the best players of their generation could fail so notably when playing together.

Lampard, looking back, has expressed regret.

He said: “There was something missing, I felt, when I look back at my England career.”

"I think there were times when they [England managers] could have done something different.

"I think there were times when we could have been managed better, there could have been a way to get the best out of us.”