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Turns out he endured defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff 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 through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss him for playing too much that system. Hire the project manager and later bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.