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Transpired he was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director 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 privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible 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 businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.