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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

For example, it was the director , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager 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. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and then discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.