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Turns out the manager could survive losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered an important European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo 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 minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for taking too long. 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 – are in charge.