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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Authority In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.