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Iturns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was the director , after having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Power In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will 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 yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club 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 effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.