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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary 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 top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority 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 by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later discard him for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.