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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers 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 animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.