Kasper Schmeichel admits Leicester City have been “embarrassing” this season and says the team must “stand up and be counted” if they are to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
For the fourth successive match the reigning champions slumped to defeat on Sunday, as they were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Manchester United at the King Power Stadium.
The defeat leaves the Foxes perilously close to the bottom three of the table, just one point above 18th-placed Hull City.
Schmeichel – who was beaten by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Mata in quick succession either side of half-time – offered an honest view of Leicester’s form this term and acknowledged they will be playing Championship football next season if things do not change.
“In the first 40 minutes we played OK, then after that [it was] unacceptable,” he told Sky Sports.
“You can always go one down in a game, but you can’t let that happen, you can’t go two down straight after. It is not good enough and sums our season up at the moment.
“It is time for every single one of us – from the top to the bottom of this club – to stand up and be counted. If we don’t we will be relegated, and obviously nobody wants that.”
Leicester’s current form is a far cry from the fairytale story of 2015-16 that saw them defy all the odds to claim a maiden Premier League title as the usual candidates fell by the wayside.
Comparing the two campaigns is not helpful for Leicester, according to Schmeichel.
He added: “Let’s not talk about last season. It’s gone, as you can clearly see.
“We need to stand up and be counted, this season from top to bottom it hasn’t been good enough. There are a lot of factors that go into it but this season has not been good right from the start.”
Some reports have suggested the mood in the Leicester dressing room has turned sour this season, but their goalkeeper insists the squad are all pulling in the same direction.
“I am not going to comment on newspaper speculation,” said the Denmark international.
“I know what is going on in the dressing room, we are a group of players who low on confidence but not low on fight. We will fight to the end, whatever that might be.
“I can guarantee that every player in there is hurting. It is not a comfortable situation. We’re the reigning champions and quite frankly it has been terrible, it has been embarrassing. And we have to improve right now.”
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