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Former Manchester United defender Mikaël Silvestre has expressed his strong views on what happened between Jason Wilcox and Ruben Amorim at Manchester United.
Amorim was sacked by the club after an icy press conference in which he suggested Wilcox had overstepped his role as director of football. Reports claimed that Wilcox, possibly under pressure from those above him in the club hierarchy, put pressure on the Portuguese to play a four-at-the-back formation instead of his favored three at the back.
Silvestre spoke to The Peoples Person in an exclusive interview hosted by Esports Insider. Since retiring, he has had a successful career in football administration. He worked as sporting director at Stade Rennais and more recently as a high-level football advisor at CFR Cluj, where he was director of football on a non-contractual basis. This background gives him a unique insight into Wilcox’s role at United.
The role of the director of football
Asked about reports that Wilcox had questioned Amorim’s use of a back three and encouraged a return to a back fourSilvestre was clear that such an intervention was part of the job.
“First of all, part of your role is to hire the manager,” Silvestre explains. “But then of course you have discussions about tactics with the manager.”
Drawing on his own experience in sports roles, Silvestre emphasized that football directors are not just recruiters or data analysts.
“Jason hasn’t been a coach, but he’s been a player. He knows the game,” he said. “He’s not someone who just sits behind a desk looking at numbers. There’s more to it than recruitment.”
Wilcox is well within his rights
Silvestre pointed to United’s recent performance against Newcastle United as a practical example of why those conversations are justified.
“If you look at the way the team played, the back four seemed better suited to the majority of the players,” he said. “At that point you have the right to have that conversation with the manager because it’s your responsibility to make sure the team gets points. It’s not just on the manager’s shoulders.”
Silvestre also highlighted how the current structure at United differs from previous eras in English football.
“It’s very different from the days of Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger at Arsenal,” he said. “If you have a sporting structure, the football director and the manager have to work together.”
In that context, daily discussions about systems, performance and marginal gains are inevitable.
“It doesn’t surprise me that these discussions took place,” Silvestre concluded. “It’s very normal.”
You can read the first part of our exclusive interview with Mikaël Silvestre here.
Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
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