Manchester United coaching staff member could face uncomfortable truth after Leeds fixture

Manchester United is the biggest club in the United Kingdom and with that status comes intense pressure and scrutiny.

Every decision at the club and every performance is subject to forensic analysis. The weight of that burden can become too heavy for some players, coaching staff and board members.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November. Questions were asked following his failure and Michael Carrick, Kieran McKenna and Martyn Pert subsequently followed him out of the exit door.

Mike Phelan remained and that was a source of bemusement for supporters. It seemed Phelan had become somewhat of a cheerleader at United and those accusations continued when Solskjaer avoided the chance to explain what he actually did.

Solskjaer avoiding the question was counter-productive. It only made fans want the answer more, but they would have to wait for Ralf Rangnick's interim appointment for an attempt at clarity. It was well overdue and something supporters deserved.

"Mike Phelan is not watching the training sessions - he also didn’t do that when Ole was in charge," Rangnick revealed.

"But he’s also part of the training group of the staff. But he is never on the pitch when we train. He’s not out there and he didn’t do that when Ole was in charge, as I said." The German's comments didn't really put the matter to bed.

Phelan did an interview, which was published in January, that included clearer answers on his role at United. It was perhaps strange it took so long for that information to be made public, but then, naturally, the news cycle moved elsewhere. The spotlight changed.

Rightly or wrongly, the United manager will always take the brunt of the criticism - Rangnick mostly has since his arrival - but the club's coaching staff are