Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Are United and Bayern already under pressure?
Manchester United and Bayern Munich opened the defence of their respective league titles with draws, prompting worried looks among supporters.
Normally it would be silly to judge a side on the first match of the season, but in United’s case there was clearly something missing in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle…a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
United fans will be relieved that he is only absent through injury and not because of a departure to Real Madrid.
However, the lack of a cutting edge in the final third and Chelsea’s impressive 4-0 drubbing of Portsmouth has heralded renewed calls for United to up their efforts to sign Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov.
Klinsmann to shake up Bayern
Anyone who has any lingering doubts whether Juergen Klinsmann is determined to be an agent of change at Bayern Munich should have a word with the city’s photojournalists.
All 20 photographers accredited for Klinsmann’s first news conference on Wednesday stood up and walked out in a silent (and somewhat silly) protest because of a new rule limiting them to three minutes of pictures at the start.
