Amorim's Fatal Error? Taking On The Executives and an Infallible Executive Class

Transpired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over System & Ideology

For example, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately 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 the club to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply 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 Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies 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 individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin him for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.