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Tbecame clear the manager was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, 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 as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready 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. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.