Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has revealed that he exchanged texts with current interim manager Michael Carrick after his criticism went viral. The pundit caused a stir when he aimed a dig at his former midfield partner following the Red Devils' recent loss to Newcastle.
Carrick had made a brilliant start to life at Old Trafford since taking over from Ruben Amorim in January, but had his first taste of defeat when William Osula scored a wonderful goal right at the death to earn a 2-1 win for the Magpies, who were down to ten men. Immediately after the loss, Scholes took to Instagram to write:
"Michael has definitely got something special about him… Cos Utd have been CRAP last 4 games."
Carrick Sent Text to Scholes After Man Utd Criticism
michael carrick
Seeing as the pair played together 160 times, with almost all of those appearances coming for Man Utd and one for England, many were shocked by Scholes comments about Carrick. What's more, the Englishman has impressed most since taking charge at Old Trafford, winning six of his first eight games, with one draw and one defeat in total.
Amid the backlash, Scholes has now clarified his comments, while also revealing how Carrick feels about it all. Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, the 51-year-old explained:
"It was in no way intended to be offensive towards Michael. Michael is one of the nicest people you will ever meet in football, he'd be the last person that I would want to offend.
"I messaged Michael anyway. I went straight to Michael and said, 'Look, I was never intending to upset you'. And I don't think I needed to say that anyway, and he told me himself he wasn't upset by it."
Paul Scholes on punditry duty before Leicester City v Manchester United in 2020. Related
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Carrick has won six out of seven games since taking over, but Scholes has explained why he still has his doubts.
Scholes Clarifies What He Meant Amid Evra Criticism
There have been plenty who took issue with Scholes' post, including Man Utd icon Patrice Evra. The former left-back, who played with both men, couldn't believe it was even real, saying:
"I hope Paul Scholes' Instagram story is fake. I hope he was hacked. To be honest, I'm not surprised at that from Scholesy. He was the quietest player I've ever played with in my entire career. Now, in the media, he drops bombshells."
Scholes, however, has justified his comments by saying that he only wanted to highlight his issue with recent performances under Carrick. He said:
"I think people have just taken it differently from what was meant. The only thing I was saying was that I don't think they played that well the last four games and he's still managing to get results.
"We had the greatest manager in the world and he always said sometimes you need a bit of luck. So with sending-offs and different things that happen through games, sometimes you do need a bit of luck, that's all I was saying."
Former teammate Wes Brown, who was on the podcast, added: "I can see it both ways. When Scholesy explained it to me, it completely made sense. But how I read it was as if he's having a go at him."
Scholes then replied: "What Wes said, and I hadn't heard that before, was that I was saying he's just a lucky manager. I wasn't saying that, I was saying he's a very talented manager because he's getting results with a team that, for the last four games since the West Ham game, I didn't think were playing very well, that's all."
Man Utd currently sit third in the Premier League, only ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference. They host Unai Emery's men next Sunday, 15 March.