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Tbecame clear the manager could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team 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 the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then fire him for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.