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Iturns out the manager was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.