Amorim's Critical Error? Challenging Wilcox and an Unassailable Executive Class

Iturns out he was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club 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. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.