🔗 Share this article

Iturns out he was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. He weathered an important European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly 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 will adapt their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard them for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.