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Tbecame clear he could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. 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 functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting 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 tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, this was the director , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.