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Turns out Ruben Amorim endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for playing too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.