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Turns out he endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

For example, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not 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 influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.