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Turns out he endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive an important European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Over Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man 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 he might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook 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 privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for using excessively that system. Hire the project manager and then bin him for requiring 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.