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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over System & Philosophy

For example, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps 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. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.