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Tbecame clear he endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. 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 a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An 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, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.