🔗 Share this article

Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive an important European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Over System and Philosophy

For example, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined 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 the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then bin him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.