Mourinho failed to motivate the Chelsea players – Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti feels Jose Mourinho lost his job at Chelsea after failing to motivate his players.

Mourinho was sacked by the Premier League champions last week with Chelsea then 16th in the table, one point above the relegation zone.

And while former Chelsea boss Ancelotti, who will take over from Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich at the end of the season, laid the blame largely at the players’ door, he also suggested Mourinho could have done more.

He told Goal: “The most difficult job for a coach is keeping the squad motivated, because within a group, both one that is doing well and doing badly, there are always problems to resolve.

“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 was a little bit of this that Mourinho paid for; the fact that the team had not started like last season, when they had a tremendous desire to do well after a bad year. This year it was exactly the opposite and he paid for the lack of motivation among the players.”

Ancelotti succeeded Mourinho at Real Madrid and will now follow Guardiola at the Allianz Arena. It is another daunting challenge but the 56-year-old appears unfazed.

“We’re always speaking of great teams. The important thing is to find a good player-coach relationship and to carry forward your ideas, managing to convince the players of the strength of your ideas,” he added.

“Imposing things on players is never good. It’s important to find in the group a belief in that which you are doing and to make sure it is accepted by all.”

Ancelotti is looking forward to experiencing the Bundesliga after coaching spells in Italy, Spain, England and France.

“I believe that in Germany in recent years, after [the World Cup in] 2006, they made great investments, they rebuilt the stadiums, they became a very competitive nation on a European level,” he said.

“I’m especially intrigued by the atmosphere that I will face on the field, because it seems that the full stadia create a beautiful atmosphere around the football. This is the thing that intrigues me most.”

The former AC Milan manager has already started learning the language.

“I’m going to have a new and interesting experience and I’m certainly happy to discover a new country, rich in stimuli,” he said.

“The thing that in these years has enriched me most 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!”