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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. 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, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

For example, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power 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 someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; 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.