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Itranspired Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly 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 a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.