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Itbecame clear he could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox 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 back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision 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 leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard them for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.