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Itranspired he was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when issued by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, 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 have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach only to fire him for playing too much that system. Bring in the process guy and then discard them for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.