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Iturns out he could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga 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 regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, 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, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.