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Turns out Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players 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 appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach only to dismiss him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.