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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately 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. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach only to fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.