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Turns out he was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Over System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority In Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power 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 by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing 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 leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.