United captain Maguire posited after Sunday’s Premier League loss at home to Arsenal that the defeat could have been caused by complacency arising from recent wins in the Champions League.
Those comments have not gone down well with Ferdinand, who has charged Maguire to stamp his authority on the team.
"We're lacking confidence in certain areas. We gained a bit of confidence in midweek but do they get too overconfident?" he said via 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.
"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."
Maguire joined United from Leicester City last summer and was named captain of the side in January following the departure of Ashley Young to Inter Milan.
