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Tbecame clear the manager endured defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

For example, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.