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Transpired he was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director 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 formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.