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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. Survive an important European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over System and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.