🔗 Share this article

Iturns out Ruben Amorim endured defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling 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 dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition 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 delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.