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Itranspired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority 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.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.