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Iturns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles 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 painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over System and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner 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 minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses 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 leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.