🔗 Share this article

Transpired he endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background 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 explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.