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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting 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 United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Power In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.