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Itbecame clear he could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.