"Michael's steely. Michael's got enough about him to know what that looks like and feels like, he's been there, he's seen it, he's done it," Phelan told the Manchester Evening News.

"The question is now, can he and his staff produce that in the building? K nowing him, he wants those glory days of fast, flowing, attacking football, but the mentality of the group could be cautious, and it's a case of how do you get that message across?

" Michael had that great run. Now everybody will have an opinion on how that happened; it could be the players, it could be the management, it could be that change, that mood, everything. But ultimately, now that it has settled, there has to be a real direction of play. To be honest, they've lost grounding in that, but it certainly can come back."

The question for Phelan is whether the modern United is set up for success. He believes the approach after Ferguson's departure has been " absolute pandemonium" at times and has fostered a culture that "creates turmoil".

Things were certainly easier when the former United defender returned to the club under Ferguson in 2001. By that time, the Scot was undoubtedly the man in control of the entire club, ably supported by David Gill. They made the decisions and made them quickly, but by the time Phelan returned, he sensed the balance of power had shifted.

"I felt as though there was a lot more talk, a little less action, in a world that I'd probably grown up in where ultimately big decision-makers were all in the room and you come out of a place with a decision, 'this is what we're going to do, this is how we're going to do it, are we all behind it, yeah, let's go for it'," said Phelan.

"It went more to, 'let's think about it, let's just develop this a little bit more' and all that, and I just thought there were sometimes too many people in the room. It just felt as though there was more people to answer to, which was what was created since I left.

"I had the beauty of seeing both sides and I know the one I really enjoyed and the one that I thought was going to be difficult, hard work, difficult to get those messages across. I found it frustrating."

Phelan was at Old Trafford for United's Champions League romp against Sabah and has watched other matches on TV. Even against the Azerbaijani minnows in a game Carrick's side won 4-0, he was concerned at how open they looked.

As you would expect of someone so intertwined with the Fergie era, and even the rapid counter-attacking football United played under Solskjaer, Phelan isn't convinced about the pace of play.

"I still personally think they play slowly," he said. "When I've watched them occasionally, not full games, but there's quite a predictability about the slow build-up, and then it quickens up and then there's a blast of pace. I think that frustrates a lot of people."

Phelan is illuminating on Carrick as a coach. Having been a tracksuited No.2 under Ferguson, the veteran took a more hands-off role under Solskjaer.

Carrick and Kieran McKenna were two fresh coaches with new ideas who led many of the sessions. Although they both took plenty of criticism during the Solskjaer era, their individual successes back Phelan's view that they were exceptional coaches.

"[Michael] was very studious. From my previous time with Sir Alex, the laptop became a coaching tool and Michael fit into that bracket," he said. "Michael was always a thinker; you could see that in his playing style. He understood the game well enough to be able to plot and plan sessions.

"There was him and Kieran McKenna already there, and they were both of the same sort of mould, it was this new modern coach, a different way of thinking. And technology was in, and I think those two coaches embraced that, and they came up with some really good, interesting work, quite intense work.

"I would say Michael didn't come across as intense as Kieran, but Michael had the playing background to probably understand how deep to go and how not, how far you can take this. I think he had more of a playing mentality.

"Kieran was a good, good coach, and he's obviously proved that. But they balanced each other out, and when we went back in, Ole and I, we allowed them the freedom to deliver that, and the players bought into that."

For Phelan, there is still a sense of regret at how the Solskjaer era ended at United. Finishes of third and second in two completed Premier League seasons suggested progress was being made, and a defeat to Villarreal on penalties in the Europa League final of 2021 remains a source of frustration.

He admits he was "sometimes bored watching" that game in Gdansk from the dugout and defeat came via a penalty shootout that ended with David De Gea missing the target. Phelan believes victory would have allowed the players to "find out if they've got another level", but instead the end came pretty swiftly the next season.

Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho signed that summer, before Cristiano Ronaldo's remarkable homecoming, and United were top of the table in September. But the wheels came off soon after, and comprehensive defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City ramped up the pressure. Watford's 4-1 win at Vicarage Road in November signalled the end and Solskjaer was sacked that evening.

"I always felt as though there was progress being made," said Phelan. "I think there were some major decisions that were ahead, and that was down to the powers that be and the manager as to what that would look like. But I'm sure if those discussions were to be had, there would have been a few changes other than the manager.

"I did feel as though the trigger was pulled a little bit too sharply. T hat knee-jerk reaction was this isn't going anywhere, which I thought it's been going in the right direction for a long time."

Phelan's talk of big decisions ahead is cryptic, and he does suggest that there needs to be an adaptation both from United and from Ronaldo, with his arrival from Juventus destabilising a tactical blueprint that was beginning to deliver success.

"To have the opportunity for a Cristiano Ronaldo to come into that dressing room was something really special," he said. "I can remember listening to the players once they knew that Cristiano was coming back, it was euphoric.

"Senior professionals in that room were going, 'wow, world class, got a world-class player coming to Man United again', there was a definite lift, a buzz.

"Now the thing is, how do you manage that situation with a Cristiano, knowing that part of the development process Ole was putting in place was this, legs, running, high pressure, this type of thing.

"Whether you agree or disagree with having a Ronaldo in your team or not, somebody has to make that decision. There is a moment when a player has to realise you're part of something, you're not just the something.

"It was a case of fitting the jigsaw puzzle together. Ultimately, it didn't see fruition, but I don't think you could say that the decision on Ole came down to whether he brought Cristiano in or not."

Carrick took charge of three first-team games before leaving when Ralf Rangnick came in as caretaker manager and although Phelan remained on the German's staff, he is critical of the decision to make that appointment.

"A lot of things happened in a short period of time, which didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason behind it all," he said.

"A caretaker being brought in and I'm thinking, where does that fit into Manchester United Football Club, does Manchester United need a caretaker manager? And my opinion of that was no, go do what you have to do, get the person in that you want now.

"One of the things that it opened it up to was an outsider coming in and saying the things that he said, and ultimately, in hindsight, it's probably been a positive. But at the moment you're in it and you're saying that, it's probably a negative."

Phelan has since had a spell working with Wayne Rooney at Plymouth, but the 64-year-old is now back involved in grassroots coaching, running his own business, Mike Phelan Coaching, which brings his top-level coaching experience through events like masterclasses and coaching sessions across the UK.

He is also co-founder and director of PEAK4, a Manchester-based workplace wellbeing and health start-up that uses elite sport metrics and learnings to improve the health of workers across a range of industries.

It all helps to keep Phelan busy, although he is open to a return to professional football in the right environment. He certainly has plenty of experience to bring, and whatever people make of his second stint at United, the biggest positive of that era is undoubtedly the signing of Bruno Fernandes.

"Ole and I went to watch Bruno at Sporting Lisbon, they were playing Porto. So we sat there in the stand, we watched him, and he did everything; he ran everything. He took corners, took free kicks, he took throw-ins if he could, he was just everywhere, he was a free spirit.

"And at that time, with the group of players we had in that squad, it seemed not unreasonable to think he could make us a bit better. Little did we know he'd be the most consistent player at Man United right now.

"He's an intelligent football player, he seems to be well-liked amongst his peers, which is a plus, and he's definitely seen a different Man United over a period of time.

"The interesting thing would be what he feels about it now, from when he first came in to where he is now, all that's gone on, what he sees is what was his ambition then and what he's got now. Which you'll only get that when he quits, I suppose, but ultimately he's stayed pretty sound.

"He's a standard-bearer now, because of his longevity. When he first came in, he was just part of a group of players, I think he's found his way into that sort of moment where he has become sort of the stalwart and he has become the voice a little bit, because he's taken that responsibility on.

"He always had an opinion, the way he sees certain things happening, the way he wants to feel things, but Bruno's always been all in. When he first came, and for that first moment we saw him, he did everything, he wanted to do everything, so he wanted to be the guy."