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Turns out the manager was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard them for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.