Ferdinand sends Maguire a warning over Man United captaincy

A defeat to Arsenal has left Manchester United and Harry Maguire in the spotlight, with Rio Ferdinand calling on the latter to prove his worth.

Ferdinand has called on Maguire to prove his worth as Manchester United captain after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.

The Red Devils have now lost three of their four home games in the Premier League and sit 15th in the standings on a mere seven points from six games – their worst start to a season since 2013/14 under David Moyes.

United’s domestic struggles come in stark contrast to their impressive Champions League form, having beaten Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig.

But Ferdinand feels a lack of leadership from the club’s very own captain, Maguire, hasn’t helped. The United legend, therefore, has urged him to ‘get a hold’ of the team and remind everyone of the work that still needs to be done.

“We’re lacking confidence in certain areas. We gained a bit of confidence in midweek but do they get too overconfident?” he said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel.

“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 added: “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.”