Carlo Ancelotti believes Jose Mourinho lost his Chelsea job because the playing staff no longer had the motivation to succeed, reports the London Evening Standard.

Just over seven months after claiming his third Premier League title in two spells at the Stamford Bridge helm Mourinho was sacked due to what club technical director Michael Emenalo termed "palpable discord" between players and their manager.

"When things are going well, there is a risk of relaxation; when things are going badly, obviously there is a loss of confidence," Ancelotti told Goal.

"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."