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Turns out the manager was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Over System & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club 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 “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals 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 superior. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, 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. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.