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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.