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Transpired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive an important European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.