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Transpired the manager could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less 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 takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.