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Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over System and Ideology

For example, this was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline 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 speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later discard him 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 grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.