🔗 Share this article

Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.