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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured a loss to Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach came at the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge 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 wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Over System and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far 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 decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing too much that system. Hire the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.