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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered an important European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over System and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.