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Transpired he could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System and Philosophy

For example, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin them for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.