The Coach's Critical Mistake? Taking On The Executives and the Infallible Executive Tier

Turns out the manager was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; 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.