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Itbecame clear he endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership 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 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power 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 someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.