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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Over System and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, 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, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin them for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.