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Turns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox 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 rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.