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Turns out he could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.