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Turns out Ruben Amorim endured losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom 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 signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.