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Itranspired Ruben Amorim endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, 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 secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.