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Transpired he could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. 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 intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy 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, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to dismiss him for playing too much that system. Hire the project manager and then discard them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.