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Turns out the manager could survive defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power 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 four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies 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. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard him for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.