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Turns out he endured a loss to Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Over 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 like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins 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 indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later bin him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.