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Transpired the manager was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, 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 explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.