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Tbecame clear the manager was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint 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 functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over System and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies 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 professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.