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Turns out he was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt 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”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? 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 in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.