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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. 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 we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for using excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later discard them for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.