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Turns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background 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 outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.