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Itranspired the manager could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.