I fear for my old club Leicester City when they lose 11 of their last 12 Premier League games and their last clean sheet was on October 5.

And I was horrified by their limp defeat at West Ham on Thursday night, where they barely laid a glove on the Hammers. To be truthful, that was probably the poorest display I have seen in the top flight this season.

The stats are nowhere near what is required and I’m afraid they are sleepwalking towards relegation.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was a wonderful striker who played for Real Madrid and Manchester United, and I had a few run-ins with him in my playing career, but as a manager his Leicester team’s prospects look desolate.

Judging by his body language on the touchline at West Ham, Van Nistelrooy looks like he is struggling. He appeared to be standing there in disbelief, almost in shock.

As United caretaker before Ruben Amorim's appointment, he looked comfortable and at ease with his surroundings. But at West Ham he looked forlorn, almost lonely, as if he was overwhelmed by the gravity of his task.

In his post-match interview, Van Nistelrooy claimed the Foxes improved markedly in the second half, but any progress in their performance was marginal. I could not believe he began the second half with the same personnel, and the same shape, with Jamie Vardy on his own up front and far too isolated from Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Facundo Buonanotte.

Leicester are not going to stay up on goal difference, so they might as well go for it and play with two up top. As good as Vardy has been over the years, he needs help - and two top front normally gives you more chance of scoring than one.

Leicester fell to another chastening defeat against West Ham on Thursday night

I am only a manager at step three, and I will probably never reach the levels where Ruud has managed, but could he really not see that Leicester needed more firepower, to commit more bodies forward?

I saw some things in a Premier League side, including a lack of desire, which I would not accept in the Northern Premier League, let alone the top flight. A manager is only as good as the tools at his disposal, but you have to make the most of your tool kit, so however the season pans out, I hope Van Nistelrooy goes for it.

Leicester were outside the bottom three when they sacked Steve Cooper, and he put more points (10) on the board in 12 games than Van Nistelrooy has posted (seven in 14 games). Director of football Jon Ruskin is under fire, and I know some fans were not impressed with some of Cooper’s £80million recruitment last summer, but they were not getting rolled over.

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Van Nistelrooy has a big job on his hands if he is to keep Leicester up

Now I think the supporters need some perspective, and to look at the bigger picture. As recently as 2009, they were in League One. Since then, they have won the Premier League title, an FA Cup and reached the Champions League quarter-finals.

In that time, they have also won three promotions, so joy has far outweighed despair at the King Power.

I’m afraid relegation looks likely this time, and I fear Van Nistelrooy wasn’t the right fit as Cooper’s replacement, but as a club Leicester City have shown unbelievable resilience in the last 16 years.

Unless they go for it with two up front, they are going down. But if they rebuild sensibly, they will be back.

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