🔗 Share this article

Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by Grimsby. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on 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 close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach 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 large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails 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 the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.