Amorim's Fatal Mistake? Taking On The Executives and the Infallible Leadership Tier

Iturns out he could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive an important European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after 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 footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less 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. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.