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Transpired he was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics 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”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss him for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and later discard them for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.