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Transpired he could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for playing too much that system. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.