Harry Maguire Needs Dropping From Manchester United Squad "For His Own Good"

Manchester United have been urged to take captain Harry Maguire "out of the oven" following a poor start to the season.

Former United ace Rio Ferdinand thinks the 27-year-old needs a spell on the sidelines after a summer from hell, which has spilled over onto the pitch.

Maguire shipped 11 goals with United in just three Premier League games this campaign and was sent off after 31 minutes for England against Denmark on Wednesday.

BT Sport pundit Ferdinand told The Sun: "It's obvious to see he's going through a bad spell.

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"Nobody is immune from having a downturn in form and confidence. If you want to play well, then having that confidence is an absolute necessity.

"He's lacking that and it's very evident in his performances.

"In these situations - and I've been in them as well - you sometimes need to be taken out of the oven."

Maguire played all of United's domestic games last season following an £80 million move from Leicester City.

The Red Devils face Newcastle United on Saturday evening and Ferdinand thinks taking Maguire out for just one game could help.

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He continued: "Sometimes just taking yourself out of the actual firing line for one game helps.

"It's about having enough time to reflect, a chance to sit down and go through where you are at.

"When you are going game-to-game with matches every three or four days it's very hard to see through the fog.

"If you are taken out of the firing line you get time to sit back and analyse your performance, your training, preparation and recovery."

While the club have a tough run of fixtures coming up in the next few weeks, Ferdinand stressed it will take longer to get Maguire back to full confidence.

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"It's about getting through a game without being seen. That might seem silly but it is the way I used to look at it. At the moment he's being seen for all the wrong reasons.

"So if he can get through winning a game, keeping a clean sheet, that's the first of the building blocks.

"It'll mean him playing simply, only putting his foot in when he needs to, not gambling like he did against Denmark, tackles that were taking risks.

"If you can tiptoe your way through a game, that builds the foundations."

Topics: Harry Maguire, Football News, Football, Manchester United, Man U, Man utd, Premier League, Rio Ferdinand

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

@DanMarland_