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Tbecame clear the manager endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin him for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.