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Turns out the manager endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered an important European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding Formation & Ideology

For example, this was the director , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to dismiss him for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.