🔗 Share this article

Turns out Ruben Amorim endured losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys set up? 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 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 to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.