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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using too much that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.