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Turns out he could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree 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 explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for using too much that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.