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Tbecame clear the manager could survive losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered an important European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, 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 a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard them for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.