Amorim's Fatal Error? Challenging The Executives and the Unassailable Leadership Class

Turns out he could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.