Patrice Evra has launched a scathing attack on former Manchester United teammates Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, accusing them of unnecessary negativity towards interim manager Michael Carrick.
United are in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League but suffered their first defeat under Carrick when they were beaten 2-1 by 10-man Newcastle on Wednesday night.
Evra's ire was particularly drawn by a sarcastic Instagram post from Scholes, who played alongside Carrick, after the match.
The post read: "Michael has definitely got something special about him…cos Utd have been crap last four games."
Speaking to Stake, Evra expressed disbelief, stating: "I hope Paul Scholes’ Instagram story is fake, I hope he was hacked."
He added: "To be honest, I’m not surprised at that from Scholesy. He was the quietest player I’ve ever played with in my entire career. Now, in the media, he drops bombshells."
Evra voiced strong support for Carrick, emphasising: "I really don’t understand the lack of support behind Michael Carrick, he’s one of us and he’s doing very well."
Evra extended his criticism beyond Scholes, noting: "There’s been negative analysis from Scholesy, but also from Roy Keane and Gary Neville."
He lamented the perceived need for negativity in punditry: "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."
Evra then took a direct swipe at Neville's brief managerial stint at Valencia: "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."
He concluded by questioning the pundits' authority: "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."
