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Tbecame clear the manager endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, 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 a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin him for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.