🔗 Share this article

Iturns out the manager could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely 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 demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding System and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager 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 adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist 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 domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.