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Iturns out he endured defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.