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Itranspired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for using excessively that system. Hire the project manager and then bin him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.