Monday 23 January 2017 00:09, UK
Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness has questioned the desire of some Leicester City players after the champions slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Southampton on Sunday afternoon.
Claudio Ranieri's side latest reverse sees them languishing in 15th place in the Premier League, now just five points from the drop zone.
Perhaps most worryingly for the Italian is that the Foxes have now let in 36 goals in the league this season, more than they conceded on their way to the title last year.
With no away win in the top flight this campaign, Leicester need to improve on their results, and quickly, if they are to avoid a relegation fight.
"There is lack of desire to do things correctly," was Souness' verdict on Leicester's latest setback, the second Premier League match in a row they have lost 3-0.
The Scot was especially critical of Leicester's defending for the Saints' opening goal, scored by midfielder James Ward-Prowse midway through the first period.
That is why they won it last year, they worked harder than anyone else, and this year I put a large question mark against some of them
"For the first goal, you are scratching your head as to why Danny Drinkwater has not sensed the danger earlier," said Souness. "He sees him [Ward-Prowse], the ball, where the danger is - eliminate that and do not worry what is behind you."
Souness, meanwhile, also thought the visitors could have done more to prevent substitute Shane Long from breaking clear in the lead-up to Southampton's late penalty that completed the scoring, in particular captain Wes Morgan.
"It is where Leicester are right now," he said. "They do not win the header, do not win the second one and then gets in a race. And he [Long] is always going to win this race and it is clumsy.
"Morgan pushes him over, but these things can be avoided if you are up and at it and doing things correctly at the right time. It is clumsy, but he has to foul him as he was in on goal if he had not.
"This is how Leicester are, they are second to too much these days."
All of which is symptomatic of how the champions have performed this campaign, according to Souness, who feels some of their players are now resting on last season's achievements.
"If you looked at them last year, the thing that separated them, the thing that won them the league, is that group of players were bang at it physically, every single time they went out to play, they were working harder than the opposition," he said.
"With all due respect to them, with players of that level they cannot be successful any other way unless they are outworking the team they are up against. They can't rely on a bit of football, a bit of endeavour.
"For those players, and that is why they won it last year, they worked harder than anyone else, and this year I put a large question mark against some of them. I think some of them think: 'I am a Premier League winner now, so that means I am a really good football player.'
"But they are only really good and really effective when they accompany that with 100 per cent effort."
