🔗 Share this article

Transpired the manager endured a loss to Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, 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 Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation 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 talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.