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Turns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered an important European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire 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, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, 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 gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.