Manchester United coach Michael Carrick has stated that he was not bothered by the recent criticism from former teammate Paul Scholes.
The comments came after Scholes appeared to take a swipe at Carrick on the The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast following United’s defeat to Newcastle United last week.
After the match, Scholes posted on Instagram, writing: “Michael has definitely got something about him…cos United have been crap last 4 games…night.”
The remark came after 10-man Newcastle secured a late 2-1 victory at St James’ Park, handing Carrick his first defeat since he took charge as interim manager in January.
Scholes later explained that the comment was not meant as an insult to Carrick and revealed that he had already contacted his former teammate to clarify the situation.
He said: “It was in no way intended to be offensive towards Michael. Michael’s one of the nicest people in football, he would be the last person I want to offend.”
Scholes added that he reached out to Carrick directly to address the misunderstanding.
“I messaged Michael anyway. I went straight to him and said, ‘Look I had no intention of upsetting you’. I don’t think I needed to say that anyway, and he told me himself he wasn’t upset by it.”
He also suggested that the public may have interpreted the comment differently from what he originally meant.
“I think people have just taken it differently from what was meant,” Scholes said. “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.”
Scholes went on to refer to lessons from his time under former United manager Alex Ferguson.
“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.”
Carrick and Scholes spent seven years together in Manchester United’s midfield during their playing careers. However, the comments sparked speculation among some fans that there might be tension between the two, who now operate in different roles within football — one as a manager and the other as a media pundit.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of United’s match against Aston Villa in the Premier League, Carrick downplayed the situation.
“There’s nothing to say about it really,” Carrick said. “I think that’s just where we are in terms of social media and things and captions and quotes, and it can be taken in different ways.”
He continued: “Calm about it and understand actually what the real meaning of things. So, listen, there’s different opinions out there, you know, and it’s fine, people can have different opinions.”
Carrick concluded by saying he was not concerned about the criticism.
“It’s just things get taken way out of one extreme to the other, and it is what it is, but I’m not worried about it. So I don’t make a big deal of it either.”