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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like 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 four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director 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. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.