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Iturns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire them for using too much that system. Hire the process guy and then bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.