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Turns out Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice 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 sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building 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 is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, 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. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.