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Transpired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over System and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior 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 the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later discard him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.