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Itranspired he endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing 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 painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire them for using excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later discard him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.