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Transpired the manager endured losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.