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Transpired he endured a loss to Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director , after having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard them for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.