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Tbecame clear the manager endured losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one 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?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.