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Tbecame clear the manager endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Authority Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.