Patrice Evra has criticised fellow Manchester United legend Paul Scholes over an ‘unnecessary’ comment he made about caretaker manager Michael Carrick.
Carrick enjoyed a fantastic start to his time in charge of United, winning seven of his first eight games and taking the Red Devils back into the Champions League places.
Carrick’s tenure hit its first stumbling block last week as Manchester United were beaten by ten-man Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Following that setback Scholes appeared to take a swipe at Carrick, who has emerged as the favourite for the Manchester United job since Ruben Amorim was sacked in January.
Taking to Instagram, Scholes said: ‘Michael has definitely got something special about him… cos Utd have been crap last 4 games… night.’
Scholes later deleted the post but Evra was nevertheless disappointed by his former teammate over his ‘unnecessary’ dig.
‘I hope Paul Scholes’ Instagram story is fake, I hope he was hacked,’ Evra told Stake. ‘To be honest, I’m not surprised at that from Scholesy.
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‘He was the quietest player I’ve ever played with in my entire career. Now, in the media, he drops bombshells.
‘I really don’t understand the lack of support behind Michael Carrick, he’s one of us and he’s doing very well. There’s been negative analysis from Scholesy, but also from Roy Keane and Gary Neville.
‘It annoys me because we want to be in the top four, and those comments are unnecessary, but this is what you do when you work in TV. You can’t be positive, you have to be negative.
‘Michael Carrick’s record is seven games, one draw and one loss. That’s the situation right now.
‘Now Manchester United need to win their next game so they don’t let that noise get to them, from the outside and from ex-players.
‘Carrick is the man of the moment and has done really well. We should be behind him and support him.’
Turning his attentions to Gary Neville, who has repeatedly suggested Manchester United should overlook Carrick, Evra added: ‘Most of these guys get a managerial job and get fired straightaway.
‘I said to Neville: “It’s easy to talk on TV. When you were at Valencia, they asked you for paella, and you gave them fish and chips.” After three months, they said goodbye.
‘People can’t forget what they have done as a manager. As players, they’re legends, but as managers, they haven’t done a great job.
‘So for them to speak and possibly kill the career of a manager, it’s a little bit too much.’
Premier League record goalscorer Alan Shearer, meanwhile, says he was ‘surprised’ by Scholes taking aim at Manchester United caretaker boss Carrick.
‘Did Paul Scholes say something along the lines of United being really poor in some games? I mean, they might have been poor, but they’ve been getting the results,’ Shearer told Betfair.
‘I guess when you play like that the other night, and they didn’t play well, you’re going to get criticised.
‘I don’t know if there’s a friendship between Scholes and Carrick, I guess when they’ve been former teammates and guys who have been fighting together on the pitch then it probably is a bit surprising that an ex-teammate would say that against you.
‘But, we know how the world works now, I don’t suspect that would upset Michael that much.’
Manchester United will look to return to winning ways next Sunday when top-four rivals Aston Villa visit Old Trafford.
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