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Transpired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad 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.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power In Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.