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Turns out the manager was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.