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Itbecame clear he could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function at a level 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 equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Power In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.