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Transpired Ruben Amorim endured defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against 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 during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard them for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.