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Turns out the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team 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 Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then discard them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.