🔗 Share this article

Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.