The Coach's Critical Error? Taking On The Executives and an Unassailable Executive Class

Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff 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 implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.