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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.