Carlo Ancelotti would have "no problem" returning to Chelsea in the future but has played down talk of out an imminent move as he insisted Jose Mourinho would not be sacked.
Ancelotti led Chelsea to a league and FA Cup double in 2010 but left the club a year later.
He is out of work after leaving Real Madrid at the end of last season and turning down an approach from former club AC Milan, but cooled suggestions he was ready to replace the under-pressure Mourinho at Stamford Bridge.
"I would have no problem with Chelsea," he told the Daily Mail. "But Jose won't be sacked. They already chose to keep him, and I think they made a good choice. He knows better than anyone what is going on at Chelsea.
"Sometimes you can't explain why things happen ... what is going wrong. It is a mystery. How did we lose [with AC Milan] in Istanbul when we were three goals up against Liverpool at half-time? You expect the opponent manager to put on a striker but he puts on a midfielder!
"I look from a distance at Chelsea and I think they won the title easily last year and I don't think they are so motivated this year.
"It's true that the manager has to be able to motivate players but the manager cannot motivate a player if the player is not self-motivated. It's impossible. They have lost something and it's difficult to change like a switch. You have to work slowly to change.
"But Mourinho is one of the best managers in the world, no doubt. I look at his body language and he's OK. He is not so worried. He has confidence. During the Dynamo Kiev game the supporters were singing his name. He'll sort it out."
Ancelotti said he had not been approached by Liverpool prior to the appointment of Jurgen Klopp, but said he would be keen on a return to the Premier League if the right job came up.
"I would like to come back to work in England," he said. "I love the football here, I still have a house in London, and I would like to be with a team that is competitive in England and in Europe.
"I think Liverpool are a good team. They have some really good young players -- [Philippe] Coutinho, [Roberto] Firmino, [Christian] Benteke. If they can find an experienced player like [Steven] Gerrard or [Jamie] Carragher -- an example to the squad -- I think they can be really competitive. But I did not speak with them. If I spoke with them I can say 'yes,' but no, I did not.
"They made the right appointment in Klopp. He is a good manager. With the best managers you see their identity in their team. Klopp's Dortmund team had a very strong identity."
Ancelotti also opened up about his disappointment about being dismissed as Real Madrid manager. The Italian took over the reins from Mourinho at the Bernabeu in June 2013 and led Los Blancos to their historic Decima (Real's 10th European Cup/Champions League).
However, in May 2015, club president Florentino Perez announced that the club's board had taken "a very difficult decision" to relieve Ancelotti of his duties with immediate effect.
"To be sacked is part of your job," Ancelotti said. "But if you ask me about being sacked by Real Madrid I tell you that it was not right.
"I was really, really unhappy because I had a fantastic relationship with the players. I really enjoyed training this team. They were really serious, really professional. More than Chelsea I was disappointed. You are judged on the results, but you cannot win every single year.
"Madrid was the hardest job. More pressure even than Milan. Was losing to Liverpool in 2005 my worst experience? Try losing 4-0 in the Madrid derby. That season we had a run of 22 wins in succession but it was all forgotten on Feb. 7 when we lost 4-0 to Atletico.
"If the manager doesn't win at Madrid he is sacked. Had I not won the Decima I would have been sacked a year earlier but I knew this when I took the job. I could have decided not to sign but Real Madrid is the most important club in the world."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.