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Iturns out he could survive losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

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 full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. 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. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.