🔗 Share this article

Itranspired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.