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Itranspired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later discard them for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.