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Itranspired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Over System & Ideology

For example, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later discard them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.