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Iturns out the manager could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power In Command

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 ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.