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Itranspired the manager endured defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.