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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.