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Transpired the manager could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles 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 bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane 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 the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized 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 analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.