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Iturns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Power In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.