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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.