Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti feels that the ‘lack of motivation’ among Chelsea players was the main contributing factor which led to Jose Mourinho’s sacking. The newly-appointed Bayern Munich manager admitted that it is not easy to keep motivation levels high in a squad that is coming off the back of a successful season.
In an interview with Goal, Ancelotti commiserated with Mourinho, saying, “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.”
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“This year it was exactly the opposite; he paid for the lack of motivation among the players.”
Ancelotti, who faced the sack as Chelsea manager in 2011 after a successful 2009/10 campaign, also noted the importance of confidence, saying, “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.
“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.”
Chelsea dominated the league under Mourinho last season and eventually became champions of England for the third time under him. However, a disastrous start to the 2015/16 campaign in which key players couldn’t deliver what was expected of them, led to their downfall and saw the club lose 9 out of their first 16 PL matches. Mourinho was sacked after Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to league leaders Leicester City at Stamford Bridge.
Ancelotti raring to go at Bayern
Bayern Munich had earlier confirmed that Pep Guardiola will step down at the end of the season and that Ancelotti will take over in the summer. Succeeding Guardiola at Bayern looks like a challenge after his achievements with the Bavarians, as the German champions are on their way to a third successive Bundesliga title this term. However, Ancelotti is relishing the challenge of adapting to Germany and its football having proven his worth everywhere else in Europe.
"Nothing worries me," the former PSG and Real Madrid boss stated. “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."
Ancelotti admits that he is excited to take up a job in the league which is widely considered the best in terms of fan support. “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,” he added.
