You can't teach them calculus when they can't add up; let's get back to basics.
While Strachan’s men have succeeded in adopting a more expansive, fluid style of play in recent times, it was very much a case of back to basics for this one.2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman:
back to basics
noun
Etymology From back + to + basics.
1
Government, PoliticsUK A conscious return to principles such as self-respect, decency and honesty; especially the discredited policy of the Conservative government in the 1990s.