Syvlain Distin explains teamwork behind Everton's success during his time at the club as Toffees' decline continues

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Sylvain Distin has emphasised the importance of teamwork at Everton during the best moments of his spell at the club as he reflected on his old club's decline since his departure.

The French defender, who is now with Bournemouth, played a pivotal role for the Toffees as they finished fifth in the Premier League in 2013-14 with one of the best defensive records in the division.

Only Chelsea and Manchester City conceded fewer goals that season - Roberto Martinez's first as manager at Goodison Park - a stark contrast to this term, during which Everton have already shipped 48 goals with three games still to play to leave Martinez under fire from supporters.

Sylvain Distin has emphasised the importance of teamwork in Everton's success during his spell at the club

Distin, now on the books of Bournemouth, spent six years on Merseyside between 2009 and 2015

Asked to explain his old team's downturn in form, Distin told talkSPORT: 'We'll never find out, all I know is when I was there we had a really good defensive record that was not just down to me but down to the lads around me, like Jags (Phil Jagielka), Bainsey (Leighton Baines), Seamus (Coleman), Hibbo (Tony Hibbert), Tim Howard - the team.

'It wasn't down to one player. I am in the generation of defenders that don't like conceding goals and take pride in our defensive record but football is changing and you have to deal with it.'

With Everton sitting 11th in the table and after their FA Cup defeat to Manchester United on Saturday, fans are contemplating protests against Martinez during the final throes of the season.

Roberto Martinez's reign at Everton has become more and more difficult since the end of that campaign

Toffees fans are unhappy with the direction the club is going, with Everton sitting 11th in the Premier League

Martinez's team have already conceded 48 times in the top flight this term with three matches still to play

The situation at Goodison Park was further exacerbated by Leighton Baines' suggestion earlier this month that the Toffees were 'leaning too heavily on individuals' during their meandering campaign.

Baines said: 'I just don't feel as though the chemistry is quite there with the team on the pitch at the moment and it hasn't been for a while.'

While the full back later apologised to Martinez for his comments, which the Everton manager claimed to have been taken out of context, his words added fuel to the debate about the atmosphere at Goodison.

The situation was exacerbated by comments made by Leighton Baines, suggesting Everton lacked chemistry

Martinez claimed the remarks were taken out of context but they fuelled the debate regarding his team's style

Distin had his own issues with his old boss during the final stages of his six-year stint on Merseyside, revealing to L'Equipe in May last year that he had not spoken to the Spaniard for some three months.

The veteran centre back would not go into the issue when pressed, however, saying: 'That's between me and him. I've never been the type of guy to go and speak about my situation to anyone and I dealt with it the way I had to and I have no regrets.' 

Whether or not Everton's board decide to keep faith with Martinez, of whom chairman Bill Kenwright has been a long-standing supporter, remains to be seen.

Chairman Bill Kenwright (left) has been a long-standing supporter of Martinez as Everton manager

But disgruntled fans are keen to see the Spaniard leave the club after a disappointing campaign

In the meantime, Distin says the fans' reaction to recent events is 'completely normal'. 

'It's down to results I guess - if the results aren't as good as his first season I don't think people would complain. But the second season wasn't good,' he said. 'There was a lot of change and expectation this season and the results weren't good.

'We'll see at some point the manager and the players get under pressure it's completely normal.'

Everton were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United at the semi-final stages on Saturday

Distin said the complaints coming from the stands at Goodison Park are 'completely natural' after recent form