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Itranspired he could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling 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 two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach only to fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later discard them for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.