The Coach's Critical Error? Challenging The Executives and an Unassailable Leadership Tier

Turns out the manager could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

For example, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our 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 equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind 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 ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.