The Coach's Critical Error? Challenging Wilcox and the Infallible Executive Class

Turns out the manager could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach only to fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.