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Transpired the manager could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, 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 tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become 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. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.