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Turns out he was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach came at the executive and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.