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Transpired he endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire 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 little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position 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 manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach only to fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.