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Itranspired the manager could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than 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 demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.