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Itranspired Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Few

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 invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire them for playing too much that system. Hire the project manager and then bin them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.