Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel did not hold back anything when asked about the performance in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.
The Foxes conceded three goals in six minutes bracketing halftime, and were clearly second-best on the day.
“First 40 minutes we played ok,” Schmeichel said. “After that, unacceptable. You can always go 1-down in the game, but you can’t let that happen. Can’t go two-down straight after each other. It’s not good enough, and it sums our season up at the moment.”
Leicester becomes the first team since Liverpool in the mid-80’s to lose four in a row as reigning champions, and have not scored a single goal in Premier League play since the 20th minute of a 1-0 win over West Ham way back on December 31st, a scoreless run of 520 minutes.
“There’s no talk about last season, last season is gone as you can clearly see,” Schmeichel said, shaking off any talk of differences between the campaigns. “Last season is gone. We need to stand up and be counted, this season hasn’t been good enough top to bottom.”
There have been rumblings that Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri, who was praised across the board for his man management and tactical prowess during last season’s championship campaign, is on the verge of being fired, with the players losing confidence in their leader. Schmeichel wasn’t having it.
“Listen, I’m not going to comment on any newspaper speculation,” the 30-year-old said. “I know what’s going on in the dressing room. We’re a group of players who are low on confidence but certainly not low on fight, and we’ll fight until the end whatever that may be. I can guarantee every player in there is hurting. It’s not a situation that’s comfortable at all. We’re the reigning champions, and quite frankly it’s been terrible, it’s been embarrassing.”
