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Itbecame clear the manager endured a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive 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 the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. 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 in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard them for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.