Paul Scholes says Instagram post about Michael Carrick was not intended to offend

• Paul Scholes says his social media comment about Michael Carrick was misunderstood
• The post followed Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United
• Scholes said he contacted Carrick directly to clarify his remarks

Paul Scholes said a social media post about Michael Carrick was not intended to offend his former teammate following criticism of his comments.

The remarks were posted on Instagram after Manchester United lost 2-1 to Newcastle United in the Premier League last Wednesday. It was United’s first defeat since Carrick took over as interim head coach.

Scholes wrote that Carrick “has definitely got something special about him” but added that United had been poor in their previous matches.

The comment prompted criticism from former United defender Patrice Evra, who suggested Scholes’ account might have been hacked.

Speaking on the The Good, The Bad & The Football Podcast with former teammates Wes Brown and Nicky Butt, Scholes said the message had been misinterpreted.

“It was in no way intended to be offensive towards Michael,” Scholes said.

“Michael is one of the nicest people you will ever meet in football. He would be the last person I would want to offend.”

Scholes said he contacted Carrick directly after the reaction to explain his intentions.

“I messaged Michael anyway. I went straight to him and said, ‘Look, I was never intending to upset you,’” he said. “He told me himself he was not upset by it.”

Carrick became United’s interim manager following the departure of Ruben Amorim and began his tenure with an unbeaten run of seven matches.

During that period United recorded wins over Manchester City, Arsenal and Fulham.

Scholes said his comment was intended to highlight Carrick’s ability to achieve results even when performances had not been at their best.

“I think people have just taken it differently from what was meant,” he said.

“The only thing I was saying was that I do not think they played that well in the last four games and he is still managing to get results.”

Brown said he understood both interpretations of the comment.

“When Scholesy explained it to me, it completely made sense,” Brown said. “But how I read it was as if he was having a go at him.”

Scholes replied that he was not suggesting Carrick was simply fortunate.

“I was saying he is a talented manager because he is getting results with a team that I did not think had been playing that well,” he said.

Earlier this year, United defender Lisandro Martínez also responded publicly to criticism from Scholes and Butt regarding the team’s performances.