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Transpired the manager was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.