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Iturns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired 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 formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later discard them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.