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Transpired he could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior 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 the club to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

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 can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire them for using too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.