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Iturns out he was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, 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 engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.