Ancelotti: Players Cost Jose  (Sky Sports)

Carlo Ancelotti believes a "lack of motivation" among Chelsea players cost Jose Mourinho his job at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho was sacked last week after a dismal Premier League run in which the Blues lost nine out of 16 games, leaving the reigning champions languishing just above the relegation zone in 15th position.

Former Chelsea boss Ancelotti, who is set to replace Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich in the summer, said keeping motivation levels high after a successful campaign is not straightforward.

"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 won the double in his first season at Chelsea but was sacked at the end of the following campaign after finishing second in the Premier League.

The 56-year-old has managed Paris Saint-Germain and led Real Madrid to the Champions League since then and will now spend the coming months learning German as he prepares life in the Bundesliga.

"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," said Ancelotti.

"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."