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Turns out the manager was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for using excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.