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Iturns out he could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for using excessively that system. Hire the process guy and then bin them for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.