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Turns out he could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then discard him 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 – remain in control.