James Maddison accused Leicester of lacking hunger and aggression after conceding five crazy Craven Cottage goals on Manic Monday.
And boss Dean Smith admitted his side were “maybe struggling mentally with the pressures” before facing Liverpool and Newcastle in their next two games.
Even without the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham were made to look like the Harlem Globetrotters as they netted three times in the opening 44 minutes against the shambolic Foxes defence.
Booed off at the break, Leicester responded with three goals - and a penalty miss - but the damage had been done to their survival hopes. The 2016 Premier League champions are now three games away from the Championship unless they dramatically improve.
England midfielder Maddison, who provided an assist and scored a second spot kick, said: “Big game for us and we were not at it. We were not hungry enough to want to win the game. We need to do the basics well. We were not aggressive enough.“
He then clarified his comments immediately after on Twitter. The midfielder wrote: "What is wrong with social media, say one thing in an interview straight after a game and it gets taken way out of context. When I say not hungry enough I mean aggressive and on the front foot in duels, not us wanting to win or realising the importance.
"We were not good enough today and we’ve only got ourselves to blame and apologise for that. But as someone who sees the work we are doing every single day to try and put this right, it’s not down to attitude or application. We will keep going until the very end."
Smith claimed it was the “emotion talking” for Maddison - then proceeded to lambast the opening 45-minute display by a side which has now conceded 12 goals in his five games in charge.
"The first half was nowhere near good enough,” he said. "First half is what killed us, you can't give three-goal leads at this level and expect to come back. We showed some spirit and I would expect that. They are not a bad group of lads, some are maybe struggling mentally with the pressures.”
Smith had seen his side pick up three points in their last three games. “The frustrating part for me is I didn't see that coming,” he claimed.
Smith had claimed pre-match that keeping a clean sheet in their last four games would ensure Premier League safety. That aim lasted only 10 minutes when keeper Daniel Iversen allowed Willian’s free kick from the wide left to bounce into his net.
Leicester have now gone 20 games without a clean sheet and have also given away the first goal in 17 of their last 18. “It’s not a good stat,” admitted Smith.
Carlos Vinicius and Tom Cairney also netted before the break while the Scot made it 4-0 after 51 minutes. Maddison produced his third assist in three games for Harvey Barnes to shoot in off the bar. Jamie Vardy then won and missed a 64th-minute penalty when Bernd Leno pushed aside his tame side-footed effort.
Willian was rewarded for his brilliance with the fifth goal after 70 minutes before Maddison, who missed a spot kick against Everton, won another penalty and this stepped up to end his 11 game run without a goal.
The eighth and final goal came in the 89th minute when sub Patson Daka set up Barnes for his second. Loyal Leicester fans did not know whether to laugh or cry at the end. "The fans support us every week and performances like that are not acceptable,” said Barnes.
Asked about the fan reaction, Smith added: “The annoyance was from the dugout and coaches as well.”
It was the best result Marco Silva has ever got for his former club Everton as Fulham ended a run of three defeats.
“Clearly we were the best team on the pitch - no doubt about it,” he said.. We should have won this game more comfortably. It was a great performance.”
