Amorim's Fatal Mistake? Taking On The Executives and the Unassailable Executive Tier

Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later bin him for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.