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Itranspired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. 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. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision 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 the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.