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Turns out he could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he 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 walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.