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Transpired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire them for playing too much that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.