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Itranspired he endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for using too much that system. Hire the process guy and then discard them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.