NafisaRuud van Nistelrooy sharply criticized his players after Leicester were overwhelmed by a dynamic Wolves side on Saturday.
Leicester were demoted last weekend, and their woes persisted at Molineux as Wolves cruised to a 3-0 win, with Jamie Vardy failing to convert a penalty.
Matheus Cunha slotted in Rayan Ait-Nouri’s low cross to give Wolves the lead and later assisted goals for Jorgen Strand Larsen and Rodrigo Gomes.
Cunha’s 33rd-minute strike marked the Foxes conceding first in 29 of their 34 Premier League matches this season—the highest number by any team in the competition’s history.
The situation deteriorated further for Leicester when Vardy, who has confirmed his departure from the club at season’s end, couldn’t outwit Jose Sa from the penalty spot after earning the kick.
Leicester have now suffered 24 defeats this season and have four matches remaining to restore some dignity to their campaign.
Van Nistelrooy has secured only three victories in his 23 games since taking over in late November and confessed this week that he’s uncertain about leading the team in the Championship next season.
He made a triple substitution at halftime but failed to ignite any progress from his struggling squad.
“I look at the performance and that wasn’t good enough,” he told Match of the Day.
“I don’t talk football-wise but I talk intensity, duels. We had many easy ball losses in possession, especially in the first half. In the second, yes, we conceded two on the break but we were better in those things. But today wasn’t good enough.”
He added: “At half-time I had to address the things I shared with you. That’s not acceptable. Those things don’t require talent. How intense you press, how intense you make a duel or the easy ball loses that are going to create lots of transitions where you have to recover.
“That is addressed then we went into the second half, we had the penalty with Jamie. That was so unfortunate. I really wanted him to score to get us back in the game but also for himself.
“That summed the game up. Brighton and Liverpool games were positive, today was not. So it’s not consistent enough. Also, it’s a matter of course to keep that motivation and focus going for the team.
“There is a lot to play for, like Jamie’s last games. Supporting our captain should be motivation enough alone to push out everything that’s left. We look at all 17 teams above and acknowledge that we weren’t at that level. That is very clear, we have to accept it and move on.”
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