Capello on axed Mourinho: Second spells are never easy

Fabio Capello says he understands why sacked Chelsea manager has struggled in the Premier League this season as it is always difficult to manage a club for a second spell.

The former AC Milan head coach had a less successful second spell at AC Milan between 1997 and 1998 having previously won four Serie A titles and the Champions League with them.

Capello found that task extremely tough and feels the key for Mourinho will be working out why his players' performances dropped off so dramatically this season, where they suffered nine defeats in 16 games after winning the Premier League in 2014-15.

"I understand Mourinho [finding it difficult] because I passed the same period with AC Milan last time after I came back after being there for a long time," he told Omnisport.

"It is difficult when you need to play games and you can see the players are not the top and the same that you remember. This is really difficult.

"I think Mourinho is one of the best coaches in the world but he needs to understand what really happened, why the players didn't play like last year."

Mourinho was axed by Chelsea on Thursday after two-and-a-half years back at Stamford Bridge.