Maguire has endured a terrible start to the season that saw Manchester United conceded eleven goals in their opening three league games.

 

The defender picked up a red card in England’s 1-0 defeat to Denmark on Wednesday night and has not looked his normal self since enduring a terrible summer when he got embroiled in a legal case against the Greek police while on his holidays.

 

 

Nicol insisted that Maguire needs to simplify his game and do the basics right again in order to stop making more mistakes in the upcoming games.

 

He conceded that the Manchester United centre-back is going through a horrendous spell of form but stressed that he needs to play his way back into form by getting the basics right again and doing whatever possible to avoid making any unforced errors.

 

 

Nicol said on ESPN FC: “What you have to do is to get back to basics.

 

“You have to play safe, you have to try and play smart, you have to pick up good positions and that is the only way you do it, absolutely 100 per cent.

 

 

“You go back to basics, you don’t make mistakes and you basically play yourself back into form.

 

“And that’s what players have been doing since the game started.

 

“Everybody goes through a bad spell, now yes he is having a horrendous spell, but the only way out is to get back to basics.

 

“Keep it simple, don’t be clever, if you have to drop five yards then you do it and don’t gamble, just back to basics.

 

“It is the only way back, not just for him, but for any player whose form is on the downward spiral.”

 

With a difficult run of games coming up, Manchester United will be desperate to see their captain get back to form soon.