🔗 Share this article

Itranspired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin him for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.