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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to view him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Regarding Formation & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors 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 him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.