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Turns out he could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.