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Iturns out he could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting 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 this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.