Pitch Points: is Slot at risk, what’s up with Trinity Rodman and is Birmingham’s stadium a fantasy? | OneFootball

Could Arne Slot’s job be at risk?

This time last season, Liverpool had just registered their 10th win in 12 games to go nine points clear at the top of the Premier League. It was around this time the narrative around Slot’s team shifted from questioning if they could win the title in their first season post-Jürgen Klopp to predicting just how far ahead of the chasing pack they would finish. A year on, the narrative has shifted tremendously.

Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest was Liverpool’s sixth in their last seven league games. Now 11 points behind Arsenal and top spot, their title defence is already as good as over with Champions League qualification also looking a long way out of reach. Only a few months back, Liverpool were widely judged to have ‘won’ the summer transfer window. That seems a very long time ago.

On paper, Liverpool’s team is still the strongest in the Premier League. They have last season’s top scorer (Mohamed Salah). And one of the best goalkeepers in the world (Alisson). And arguably the best centre-back of the Premier League era (Virgil van Dijk). Oh, and they added Germany’s most talented playmaker in a generation (Florian Wirtz), as well as a striker (Alexander Isak) so good he has been compared to Thierry Henry. They all played against Forest, and Liverpool lost handily.

In the absence of a clear explanation, the finger of blame is starting to bend towards Slot. The Dutchman was wise not to overhaul the winning team he inherited from his predecessor last season. Now, though, he is struggling badly to impose his own ideas and identity on a team that has lost the muscle memory from the Klopp era.

Fenway Sports Group are known for their calculated approach to most things. Nothing that’s happening right now, however, was planned for. Liverpool are probably still a long way from seriously considering Slot’s position, but the longer their slide continues, the greater their desperation will grow.

How would Trinity Rodman’s NWSL exit change women’s soccer in the US?

If Sunday’s NWSL final was Trinity Rodman’s final match in the league, she could have done more to leave a lasting impression. Limited to a cameo appearance off the bench as she ramps up from an injury-hit season, the US international was powerless to stop the Washington Spirit suffering a 1-0 loss to Gotham FC. Rodman was quiet. By her own admission, she “definitely underperformed.”

Rodman could be forgiven for not being entirely focused. The 23-year-old is the subject of intense speculation about her future with several European clubs reportedly interested. There’s also an offer on the table from DC Power of the Gainbridge Super League that is “significantly larger” than the Spirit’s offer, according to the Athletic.

A move to the USL’s Division 1 would completely reshape the hierarchy of women’s soccer in the United States. It would be a David Beckham or Lionel Messi-esque moment for the new disruptor league. Even if Rodman leaves for Europe, as many other American stars have in recent times, questions will be asked of the NWSL and its standing at the top of the women’s game.

Is the NWSL’s salary cap model sustainable in the face of increased competition for the biggest names? Rodman is at the forefront of a new American generation. There’s a Women’s World Cup in 2027, which the US will be expected to win. Rodman may well be the face of that tournament. Could the NWSL alter its structure, doing away with its salary cap or raising it considerably, to keep her and other stars of her ilk? The Rodman Rule, to follow MLS’s Beckham Rule that gave way to Designated Players? The league’s future could hinge on it.

Birmingham City’s new stadium plans: brilliant or tacky?

You’ve seen AI slop before. It’s everywhere. It’s on Facebook, usually shared by an uncle duped into believing Zohran Mamdani and Joseph Stalin knew each other. It’s on your TV (is it ‘always the real thing,’ Coca-Cola?). It’s on the President of the United States’ social media accounts. It also, by the looks of things, designed Birmingham City’s new stadium.

The $3.2bn project will be “a modern-day Colosseum,” according to Blues chair Tom Wagner. It will seat 62,000 fans, feature 12 chimney-like towers inspired by the city’s industrial heritage and be named The Powerhouse. The only thing missing is a giant sign reading ‘“by order of the Peaky Blinders.”

No other stadium in the world will look like this one, and that should be applauded. It’s refreshing to see a club want something other than a soulless glass bowl to call home. If The Powerhouse looks anything like the renderings that were released it will be instantly recognisable to fans everywhere.

It will also be tacky. The world’s first AI stadium in real life. A theme park attraction disguised as a soccer stadium. Wagner insists the finished article will look like the cartoonish images released last week, quipping “we’re spending a lot of time and money on a stadium that will never be built.” They must have saved a fortune using ChatGPT instead of an architect to design it.

Header image: [Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA]