Former Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand has called on Harry Maguire to "get a hold of" his teammates following their 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
The Red Devils slumped to another Old Trafford loss courtesy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty, making it just one point from 12 available at home in the Premier League so far this season.
The defeat came just four days after thrashing RB Leipzig 5-0 in the Champions League, while they have also won away at Paris Saint-Germain in recent weeks, and after the match Maguire suggested that the Arsenal loss may have been down to complacency.
"We're lacking confidence in certain areas. We gained a bit of confidence in midweek but do they get too overconfident? I saw Harry Maguire and a couple of his comments after the game saying maybe they were patting each other on the back too much. Get a hold of that team - he's the captain," Ferdinand told the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel.
"I hope he's getting in there and getting round people and telling people 'listen, we aren't the finished article, we've got loads to do, there is more from us to come, pull your socks up'. I don't know if that's going on. The captain of Man Utd.
"There's always been leaders in that changing room who would be going round and drilling people, either one-to-one or in front of the group. Pulling people aside, having little conversations to get people up, to make sure they stay on their game.
"I remember Nani, I didn't chat to him really, it was two or three words, 'assists and goals' or 'shoot on sight'. Boom, that's it. It doesn't need an essay of words. Sometimes it's short and sharp, punchy little things. Are these conversations going on? It isn't just for the management to deal with that, sometimes the players in that dressing room need to stand up and put it on people."
Man United currently sit 15th in the Premier League table, having picked up just seven of the 18 points on offer to them so far this season.
Barney Corkhill
