🔗 Share this article

Turns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Over System and Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for using excessively that system. Hire the process guy and then bin them for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.