Scholes Breaks Silence: Not Aimed at Offending Carrick After Controversial Post

Context

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes says he did not intend to insult his former teammate Michael Carrick, who now leads the club, after the controversial posts he shared on social media late last Wednesday.

According to ESPN, Scholes had posted that "Michael certainly has something special, because United had been very poor in the four previous matches," following United's 2-1 defeat to Newcastle.

Despite the defeat—their first since Carrick succeeded Ruben Amorim—United sit third in the Premier League and are battling to secure a Champions League place.

In response to the criticism of his remark, Scholes told the GoodBadFootball podcast: "Michael is one of the nicest people you could meet in football, and I am the last person I would want to insult him."

He added that he had messaged Carrick directly, telling him: look, I never meant to bother you, and I don't think I needed to say that at all, and Carrick himself told him he wasn’t bothered by what happened.

Scholes further explained that people probably understood his comments differently from his intent, insisting that his point was that the team hadn't played well in the four games, even though Carrick continues to produce results.

Patrice Evra, a former United teammate, criticized the ongoing negativity from pundits Roy Keane and Gary Neville.

Evra added: "This bothers me because we want to be in the top four, and these comments are unnecessary, but that's what you do when you work on television; you cannot be positive, you must be negative."