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Itranspired Ruben Amorim endured losing against Grimsby. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become 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 influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.