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Turns out he could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation and Ideology

For example, this was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, 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, 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 early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Order: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out 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 visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.