Micah Richards hammered two Nottingham Forest players for their efforts during Friday’s 3-2 defeat to Fulham.
The Reds slipped to a fourth straight loss and alarm bells are starting to reverberate around the City Ground.
Forest were leading at half-time thanks to a second Reds goal for Taiwo Awoniyi who headed home from close range.
Three goals by the Cottagers in four second-half minutes left the City Ground stunned, however.
Tosin Adarabioyo headed home the equaliser, with Joao Palhinha and Harrison Reed also bagging.
MORE FOREST STORIES
Richards was speaking about Forest’s defending on Match of the Day last night; with Scott McKenna and Renan Lodi in the firing line.
He said live on the BBC show: “They have another man running in for the third goal but this from Scott McKenna and Renan Lodi is schoolboy stuff.
“You can see Reed is there but for some reason, Lodi wants to go in front of McKenna and leave the space behind them. All they have to do is talk.
“McKenna can take Willian, and Lodi can take Reed at the back post. This is the basics of football.”
Richards hammers Forest duo and certain Reds stars need to step up
McKenna will retain his place at the moment as he’s the only left-footed option that can play at central defence.
He does need to step up though and perhaps the Scotland star needs to strip back to basics a little bit.
Lodi has looked largely impressive since signing from Atletico Madrid.
There were, however, a few murmurs that defensively he might be a little bit suspect and perhaps that is proving the case.
Still, both players will perhaps keep their places as Steve Cooper looks to get some consistency with his team.
Lodi and McKenna didn’t cover themselves in glory at the weekend and both players will hope to gain some confidence on international duty.