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Tbecame clear he could survive losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Over Formation and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.