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Itbecame clear the manager was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, it 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 attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.