Claudio Ranieri slammed his Fulham players for a lack of passion as they slumped to an embarrassing FA Cup defeat to Oldham Athletic.
The League Two side won the third-round clash at Craven Cottage 2-1, a result that left Ranieri disappointed and frustrated.
"I wanted more from my players," the Italian said afterwards.
"If you lose but you give 100 per cent of your personality, desire, everything, passion, I can accept that Oldham scored twice. But we didn't play with passion, that's the problem."
After Denis Odoi had given Fulham the lead, Sam Surridge equalised for the Latics with 14 minutes remaining.
Daniel Iversen then saved a penalty from Fulham substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic before Callum Lang headed an 88th-minute winner for the visitors.
Fulham, 4/7 to be relegated this season, face a crunch battle against Burnley this weekend. The Cottagers can be backed at 2/1 to win the match while a Clarets victory is available at 11/8.
Ranieri said of that match: "We need the fire, we need the passion, we need blood, we need everything if we want to be safe [from relegation]. That's the real problem."
View all Soccer betting
Claudio Ranieri slammed his Fulham players for a lack of passion as they slumped to an embarrassing FA Cup defeat to Oldham Athletic.
The League Two side won the third-round clash at Craven Cottage 2-1, a result that left Ranieri disappointed and frustrated.
"I wanted more from my players," the Italian said afterwards.
"If you lose but you give 100 per cent of your personality, desire, everything, passion, I can accept that Oldham scored twice. But we didn't play with passion, that's the problem."
After Denis Odoi had given Fulham the lead, Sam Surridge equalised for the Latics with 14 minutes remaining.
Daniel Iversen then saved a penalty from Fulham substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic before Callum Lang headed an 88th-minute winner for the visitors.
Fulham, 4/7 to be relegated this season, face a crunch battle against Burnley this weekend. The Cottagers can be backed at 2/1 to win the match while a Clarets victory is available at 11/8.
Ranieri said of that match: "We need the fire, we need the passion, we need blood, we need everything if we want to be safe [from relegation]. That's the real problem."
Source: bet365.com