‘I messaged Michael’ - Man United legend clears controversial comment made about Carrick

A viral social media post by Scholes last week sparked debate, with many interpreting his words as undermining his former teammate, Carrick. 

Scholes wrote, "Michael has definitely got something special about him, because United have been crap the last four games."

However, the retired midfielder, now a prominent pundit, has clarified that his words were not meant to be malicious. 

Scholes has expressed his respect for Carrick, describing him as "one of the nicest people you will ever meet in football" and "the last person I would want to offend."

"It was in no way intended to be offensive towards Michael," Scholes explained on "The Good, The Bad & The Football" podcast.

Scholes revealed that he reached out to Carrick directly to clear the air. "I messaged Michael earlier. I went straight to Michael and said, Look, I was never intending to upset you," he recounted. 

"And he told me himself he wasn’t upset by it. 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," Scholes said. 

"I was not saying he’s just a lucky manager. I was saying he’s a fairly 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 was playing very well. That’s all."

Scholes also invoked the wisdom of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson to support his view. "We had the greatest manager in the world, and he always said, 'Sometimes you need a bit of luck...' That’s all I was saying."