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Tbecame clear the manager was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe 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 investment, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later discard him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.