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Iturns out he endured a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using too much that system. Bring in the process guy and later discard them for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.