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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over System & Philosophy

For example, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.