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Itbecame clear he endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox 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 System and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of 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 guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for playing too much that system. Hire the project manager and then discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.