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Transpired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, 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 of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later discard them for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.