Amorim's Critical Mistake? Taking On Wilcox and the Infallible Executive Tier

Turns out the manager was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives 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 receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.