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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.