Amorim's Critical Error? Taking On Wilcox and the Unassailable Executive Class

Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Over System and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man with the impeccable football pedigree 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 outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. 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 metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place 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 decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job 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 influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.