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Transpired he could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for playing too much that system. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.