Paul Scholes insists the comments he posted on his Instagram Story last week were in no way intended as a criticism of Michael Carrick, with the Manchester United head coach saying there was no malicious intent after the pair discussed the matter privately. The 51-year-old former midfielder sparked controversy on social media after Carrick’s side lost to Newcastle last Wednesday.
On his Instagram Story, a written message from manager Scholes said: “Michael definitely feels something about him… United have been crap the last four games… tonight.” Many interpreted Scholes’ comments as an attack on Carrick, who has led a significant turnaround in form since replacing Ruben Amorim. The defeat at Newcastle was Amorim’s first setback since replacing him. Among those surprised was Patrice Evra, with the former United left-back suggesting he had hoped Scholes had been “hacked”.
However, Mr Scholes appeared on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast on Monday to clarify the issue after receiving backlash for his comments.
He said: “There was absolutely no offensive intent towards Michael. Michael is one of the greatest people in football and I don’t want to offend him.”
“I sent a message to Michael anyway. I went straight to him and said, ‘Look, I didn’t mean to upset you.’ I don’t think I needed to say that anyway, and he said himself that he wasn’t upset about it.”
“I think people are taking it differently than it was meant to be. All I was saying is, I don’t think they’ve played as well the last four games, but he’s still getting results.”
“We had the greatest manager in the world and he always said that sometimes you need a little bit of luck. So with sending offs and things that happen during the game, sometimes you need a little bit of luck. That’s all I wanted to say.”
The defeat against the 10-man Magpies was the only blot on Carrick’s record since taking charge of United in mid-January. He looked just as frustrated as Scholes after the 2-1 defeat at St James’ Park.
“We weren’t happy with the way the game went, it was largely in our hands in terms of how the game played out, but credit to Newcastle,” he said after the game.
“We were able to get into a position where we felt we should have started the kick. We weren’t really disappointed that badly. I don’t think it was the 10-man thing. We just didn’t play well enough, there’s no excuse.”
