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Transpired Ruben Amorim endured losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over System and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.