Seamus Coleman says Everton's players feel a collective sense of responsibility after manager Roberto Martinez paid for a disappointing season with his job.
Martinez was sacked this month following a difficult run-in that saw Everton win one in 10 Premier League matches prior to the Spaniard's dismissal.
"If you're finishing 11th, for a team of Everton's standards and players, it's not good enough," Coleman said. "Not many of us can say we kept our standards to what they should be.
"It's a results business and, unfortunately for Roberto, we hadn't been getting them. But it's not just Roberto who takes it on the chin – that comes from the players as well.
"It's not a nice feeling to see someone lose their job and it's not like anyone was happy about it."
Asked about his attacking limitations under Martinez, Coleman added: "Maybe I didn't get to bomb on as much as I would have liked but Gerry [Gerard Deulofeu] was setting up Rom [Romelu Lukaku] week in, week out.
"You can't argue with that. I'm a team player and it's a team game."
