🔗 Share this article

Itbecame clear he could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Over System and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.