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Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint 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 within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director , after having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less 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 change. 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 speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.