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Turns out Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

For example, this was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later discard them for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.