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Transpired the manager was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.