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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation and 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 him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.