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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over System and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? 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 the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.