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Iturns out he could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. 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, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.