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Tbecame clear the manager endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see 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 one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.