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Iturns out Ruben Amorim endured losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Regarding System and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Order: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using excessively that system. Hire the project manager and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.