His comments come after Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri said they were difficult to motivate in the wake of Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by Arsenal at the Emirates.
The Italian came in for some criticism for publicly questioning his players’ attitude but Holloway believes he was well within his rights to do so.
And he says they have previous and accused some of them of downing tools for managers in the past.
“The fact is they almost look lacklustre,” he told talkSPORT.
“It’s always as if sometimes they need a William Wallace type talk.
“How many times have they done that? They’ve done it to (Jose) Mourinho, (Antonio) Conte.
“There’s something wrong with the group. I watched the game, and do I agree with him (Sarri)? Yes.
“But is it risky? Of course. But I go back to my ultimate hero Bill Shankly and what he says about lazy players and what should happen.
“Well this group of Chelsea players are lazy. They are not going about their work in the right way.
“(Owner Roman) Abramovich should look at and think how many times has this happened? Where are the leaders in this group?
“The Graeme Souness’, the Roy Keanes’ and so forth.
“I was told years ago by senior players in that dressing room about what standards were expected from him.
“Everybody leaves it now at Chelsea and just thinks of themselves and not the team.”
Holloway continued to defend Sarri as he tore into Chelsea’s players, insisting they had let him down.
“No, Sarri is not out on a limb. He’s a very intelligent man and a mathematician,” he added.
“He cannot believe he’s had to come out and do this. Do this lot want to win as much as he does?
“You’ve got to be very careful how you dig people out. If it’s just personal on one player, a bit like Mourinho was on (Luke) Shaw – that was a bit personal – maybe that’s too much.
“(Pep) Guardiola had his problems with (Leroy) Sane earlier in the season, too.
“Both players have responded to that though and shown what they’re all about.
“Yes, Sarri’s taken a risk, but I think it was a beautiful, honest risk.
“He did it because he couldn’t believe the group of players he’s working with are not performing to the standards they are capable of.”