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Itranspired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, squandering the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man 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, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran 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 questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.