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Turns out Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then fire them for playing too much that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.