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Transpired he could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at 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 appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

For example, it was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard them 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 adults – however well qualified – are in charge.