Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti says Jose Mourinho lost his job because the Chelsea players lost motivation.
Billionaire owner Roman Abramovich decided to sack the Portuguese just seven months after he led Chelsea to their first Premier League title in five years.
This season Chelsea had endured their worst start to the season in decades, sitting just a point above the relegation zone after 16 matches.
There were numerous reports and rumours that the Chelsea players no longer wanted to play for Mourinho, with the coach saying that he felt “betrayed” after defeat to Leicester City, a point that appeared to be proven with their improved performance in the win against Sunderland at the weekend.
Ancelotti, who will take over from Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich next summer, was also sacked by Abramovich, a season after he led Chelsea to the only Double in club history.
The Italian says that Mourinho’s failure to keep confidence levels high had a part in his dismissal.
“That is the most difficult job for a coach because within a group, both one that is doing well and one that is doing badly, there are always problems to resolve,” Ancelotti told Goal.com.
“When things are going well, there is a risk of relaxation; when things are going badly, obviously there is a loss of confidence. The coach must always keep a good balance in that sense, lifting the confidence levels particularly when things don’t seem to be working.
“It’s a little of this that Mourinho paid for, the fact that the team had not started like last year, when they had a tremendous desire to do well after a bad year.
“This year it was exactly the opposite; he paid for the lack of motivation among the players.”
Ancelotti, who has won trophies with AC Milan in Italy, Chelsea in England, Paris Saint-Germain in France and in Spain with Real Madrid, will manage in Germany for the first time.
But he is not daunted by the prospect of following in the footsteps of Pep Guardiola, who has won the Bundesliga in each of his two seasons at the Allianz Arena, and is currently eight points clear at the halfway stage.
“Nothing worries me,” he added. “I’m going to have a new and interesting experience and I’m certainly happy to discover a new country, rich in stimuli.
“The thing that has enriched me most in these past few years has without doubt been getting to know different cultures; the customs in various countries.
“I believe that it will be this kind of experience in Germany; very interesting. Learning German? I’ve already started. I can confirm that it’s not easy!
“The important thing, though, is to find a good player-coach relationship and to carry forward your beliefs, managing to convince the players of the merit of your ideas.
“Imposing things on players is never good. It’s important to find in the group the belief in what you are doing and to make sure it is accepted by all.
“Bayern are a great club and my objective is to keep them competitive in Germany and in Europe.”
