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Iturns out the manager could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation & Ideology

For example, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

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 club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then fire him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.