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Itbecame clear the manager could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.