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Iturns out he could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly 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 change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.