🔗 Share this article

Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later discard them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.