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Itranspired the manager endured losing against Grimsby. Survive an important continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed 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. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using too much that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.