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Itbecame clear he was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using too much that system. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.