🔗 Share this article

Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest 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 by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.