ADELAIDE captain Taylor Walker has revealed Esendon players were "disagreeing a lot" with each other during Saturday's game.
The Crows thrashed the Bombers by 112 points at Etihad Stadium, putting further pressure on coach James Hird.
"It's very sad to see such a great club struggling at the moment," Walker said on Triple M Adelaide on Monday.
"I don't want to go into it too much, but they seemed to be disagreeing a lot on the field, and probably not playing for each other as you'd probably like."
"We took full advantage of that on the weekend and played some really, really exciting footy."
There was no sign of Hird at the Bombers' Tullamarine headquarters on Monday morning, but injured skipper Jobe Watson did arrive.
He played a straight bat when asked if pressure on the coach was unfair.
"Unfortunately when you lose the pressure goes on to everyone," Watson told reporters.
"He's had to deal with more than anyone over a long period of time, both him and his family – I think he's had to deal with a lot of things that have been unfair."
Watson said Saturday's loss was difficult to watch.
"For everyone watching, it was a difficult game when you lose like that, no one goes out to perform like that."
Hird was spotted heading for a private conversation with Essendon chief executive Xavier Campbell, well away from the team, in the rooms after the loss.
The Essendon board has a scheduled meeting Thursday night.
Hird's contract doesn't expire until the end of 2016, but the club is in the midst of a football department review.
The Bombers have won just five games this season.