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Turns out Ruben Amorim endured a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against 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 top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually 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 a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority 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 in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach only to fire him for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin him for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.