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Turns out Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox 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 functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Over System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and then bin him for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.