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Itranspired Ruben Amorim endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps 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. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and later discard them for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.