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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.