Loic Remy says the Chelsea players are baffled by their awful Premier League run, but accepts they need to improve or face a season-long battle at the wrong end of the table.
Remy came off the bench to score in Monday's 2-1 defeat at leaders Leicester City – after which Jose Mourinho accused his Chelsea squad of "betraying his work".
And while the France international conceded the performance at the King Power Stadium was not good enough, he struggled to find an answer behind the champions' struggles.
"We are disappointed because of the loss, but also because we need to play much better to win a game," Remy said on Chelsea's official website.
"It's difficult to pick one or two players who were better than any others. All the team need to improve; we need to be ready and play better.
"We have to try to be more compact, not make any mistakes and score goals, that's the main thing. We have to improve otherwise we will stay near the bottom of the table and Chelsea are not in the right position.
"We know the situation. As Chelsea players we all need to improve and fight in every game.
"The manager makes his decision and picks 11 players. Whoever is playing tries to give their best and it's the same for the substitutes, but at the moment it's not enough and I don't know why."
The defeat left Chelsea 16th in the Premier League, just a point above the relegation zone.
Next up is a crunch clash with fellow strugglers Sunderland.
"Nobody believes it because we were champions last year," Remy added. "The season is long and we have time to get better, I really believe that will happen soon. We have to try to win games.
"The situation is really tough but as a group we have enough quality to come back. We need one or two wins to get our confidence back and I'm sure we will do that in the coming game."