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Itranspired Ruben Amorim endured defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. 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 fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later bin them for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.