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Itranspired Ruben Amorim endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, 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 trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and later bin him for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.