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Itranspired the manager was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using excessively that system. Hire the process guy and then discard them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.