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Itranspired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy 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 very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach only to fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.