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Turns out the manager could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. 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, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin them for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.