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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

For example, it was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point 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 publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.