Memphis Depay has backed outgoing Olympique Lyonnais coach Sylvinho to "do great things in the future" and said the players should take responsibility for the team's poor start.
With just nine points from their opening nine games this season, OL have made their worst start to a Ligue 1 Conforama campaign since 1995-96.
The club decided to relieve Sylvinho of his first-team coaching duties following last weekend's 1-0 derby defeat to AS Saint-Étienne, a result that left Lyon just a single point above bottom spot.
The Brazilian tactician was only appointed in the summer, and had orchestrated two stunning wins in his opening two league games, as well as an impressive victory at RB Leipzig in OL's UEFA Champions League group-stage game earlier this month.
WATCH: Sylvinho's Lyon sweep aside Angers
"It wasn't his fault if we had bad results, game after game. I keep saying, it's the team, it's the team's responsibility," said Depay, who has scored four league goals this season.
"I feel really sorry for him that he's been sacrificed, because I think he contributed passion to the team, to the club, freshness, a new approach. But it takes time to change a club. I feel bad for him, but I know that he's going to do great things in the future."
