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Turns out he endured losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe 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, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.