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Turns out he could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over System and Ideology

For example, it was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.