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Transpired the manager was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. Survive an important European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling 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 literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.