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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation and Philosophy

For example, it was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, 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 football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, 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, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.