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Transpired the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later discard them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.