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Turns out he was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later discard them for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.