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Turns out Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Over Formation & Ideology

For example, it was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.