Jason Wilcox has become a favorite for TV broadcaster cutaways in recent months. Manchester United’s increasingly beleaguered sporting director gives great hangdog face and appears to be shrinking further into his overcoat with each defeat.

He was name-checked in Lisandro Martínez’s explosive rant last month, with the defender further putting Wilcox in the spotlight with the sentence “I expect more from our technical director.”

While Michael Carrick has now gone from Old Trafford, Wilcox remains as one of the most public faces of United’s recent shortcomings; TV cameras poised ready to pick him out at the next sign of trouble when domestic soccer resumes following the international break.

In many ways, Wilcox was in the wrong place at the wrong time for United. The former Blackburn Rovers winger joined from Southampton in 2024 as technical director, working under then sporting director Dan Ashworth, as part of the INEOS overhaul of the club’s hierarchy.

Seemingly, it was to be Wilcox’s remit to implement the strategy designed by Ashworth and CEO Omar Berrada. However, after Ashworth lasted just five months in the role, Wilcox was suddenly promoted and found himself in the most important job at the club having only ever spent a year previously in that role (at Championship-level Southampton). He soon found himself in over his head.

Above him, INEOS and Berrada have surely fumbled the big picture, but Wilcox must shoulder some of the blame for United’s historically bad start to the season that has left the club in the relegation zone after 10 Premier League matches.

Here are four ways in which United’s sporting director’s decision making missed the mark.

Appointing Michael Carrick Full Time

The appointment of Carrick on a full-time basis felt like a case of (recent) history repeating itself at Old Trafford.

The club legend had overseen an impressive turnaround in form during his half-season interim spell, securing a third-placed Premier League finish and a return to Champions League soccer.

It was essentially a repeat of how Ole Gunnar Solskjær ended up as permanent United boss back in 2019.

While United’s resurrection under Carrick in the back end of the 2025–26 campaign was very good, it was also clearly unsustainable. The players had powered through on momentum, boosted by a lack of European matches and early cup exits.

Carrick, while having done his part as well as he could as caretaker, did not have the experience for the top job and should never have been a serious candidate for an elite club capable of long-term thinking.

After the failures of Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, United needed a clear philosophy and direction. The appointment of Carrick was an admission from Wilcox that he had no idea what his plan was beyond the here and now.

Neglecting the Defense

United’s transfer business of the last two summers has been characterized by an unusual approach: targeting only one position at a time.

In 2025, the Red Devils’ big focus was on forwards, signing Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Šesko, as well as goalkeeper Senne Lammens.

This summer, Wilcox and his team went hard on central midfield, with Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos the only players signed for money.

No one would argue that the attack and the midfield didn’t need a makeover, but it was just that the approach neglected the rest of the team.

Several positions were screaming out for strengthening this summer, not least the full back positions, with the aging Luke Shaw’s fitness an ongoing concern and Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui failing to impress.

At center back, Martínez, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt’s various form and injury issues have left the team further exposed.

Left backs Lewis Hall and Alejandro Balde were among those linked during the window but nothing happened, with Wilcox seemingly leaving defense on the to-do list for another summer.

... And the Strikers

Center forward was another obvious area that needed at least a depth addition this summer.

Šeško’s shin injury, which is now set to keep him out until the new year, has heaped more pressure and work load on Mbeumo—a natural winger—as the attacking focal point.

Joshua Zirkzee, six Premier League goals in 62 appearances, is the club’s only other senior striker.

Following Šesko’s layoff, links emerged to Leeds United’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but this felt like yet another reactive move that demonstrated a lack of certainty about what the sporting director actually wants his team to be.

Not Shifting the Deadwood

Manchester United’s roster is a Frankenstein’s monster, pieced together with players signed for various managers with various tactical approaches over various years.

There has not been the required ruthlessness to rid the squad of its weakest links and cut ties with players who just aren’t good enough anymore.

While fans will have nodded appreciatively at the exits of Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Højlund, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia over the last two summers, many more remain on the books with big wages and not much merit.

Marcus Rashford, 29, returned this past summer without any real plan for reintegration, while Maguire, 33, and Shaw, 31, increasingly look like the soccer has left them.

De Ligt, Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte’s injury issues have left them as little more than expensive physio-room ornaments. Mazraoui and Zirkzee, meanwhile, are both into their third seasons at Old Trafford despite never excelling.

The reluctance, or inability, from Wilcox to shift the deadwood has wasted money, lowered standards and helped foster a toxic complacency.