A MANCHESTER UNITED star rang Paul Scholes and tried to confront him at the training ground over his negative TV comments.
Scholes, 50, is not afraid to speak his mind in his role on The Overlap Fan Debate and as a pundit for TNT Sports.
But his criticism got under the skin of one irked Red Devils squad member.
Asked whether players react to comments made by pundits, Scholes revealed on The Overlap Fan Debate via Sky Bet one unnamed United man took matters into his own hands.
He said: “Players can be a little bit touchy these days.
“I had a player this year, who contacted me and wasn’t happy with some of the things I’d said.
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“He wanted to meet me at the training ground.
“I said, ‘Of course, no problem,’ and gave him my number but he never got back to me.
“I would have done it. If I’m saying things I believe and he wants me to explain why, it wouldn’t have been a nice conversation.
“But I said if they or anyone else has a problem, there’s my phone number.”
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Scholes refused to reveal the name of the individual in question in what has been another disappointing campaign for his former club – under both Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim.
But he reckons criticism from the media and former players is part and parcel of life as a professional footballer.
The United legend, though, thinks players should be able to brush off the comments – although that is easier said than done.
Scholes added: “What we say as pundits shouldn’t affect a player.
“The only people that should affect the players is what the manager thinks, the coaching staff, and their team-mates.
“Whatever is said on TV should be taken with a pinch of salt.
“I’m not even sure how many players these days watch football and watch what we’re saying.
“There was one United player who obviously took a bit of offense to what I said, but you just deal with it.
“If things need an explanation or a meeting over a tea or coffee, I’d be happy to give it.
“I only do punditry for Manchester United games now.
“I very rarely do other games because I want to watch United, and I want to be at the United games.
“Ever since I’ve started doing it, the performances have not been great.
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“I don’t think I saw them win for a long time and you look terrible having a go at your club when that’s the club you played for, for 20 years – it’s the last thing you want.
“It’d be so easy if you were a Manchester City player for the last ten years.
“Where we are now, it makes you look like a bit of a villain.”
Jamie Carragher then opened up on being called out by Daniel Sturridge for telling Liverpool to sell the forward.
The Sky pundit said: “It was Daniel Sturridge.
“You wouldn’t believe this, but when I stopped playing for a couple of years, Liverpool asked me and Steven Gerrard to go on an end of season game in Australia.
“Liverpool couldn’t sell out the tickets to fill out this stadium in Australia, so they asked me, Stevie, and Steve McManaman to play with the team.
“I’d said that they’d needed to sell Daniel Sturridge, and he confronted me in the dressing room when we got over there.
“And I thought, ‘Fair play, good on you.’
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“There is nothing worse than someone backing down, so I wasn’t going to.
“Sometimes, if I was a player with a journalist, I might say something and they’d back down and say sorry, but no, just front it.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
