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Turns out he could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director , after being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his superior 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 in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest 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 by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.