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Transpired the manager could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see 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 sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.