The Coach's Fatal Mistake? Challenging Wilcox and the Infallible Executive Class

Transpired the manager was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor 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 best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

For example, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, 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. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard them 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 – however well qualified – remain in control.