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Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Over Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority In Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his 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 playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.