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Itranspired Ruben Amorim endured a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Over System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.