Jose Mourinho left Nathan Ake a "broken" player after overlooking him while the pair were at Chelsea, according to the Bournemouth defender.
Dutch defender Ake made only seven Premier League appearances in five years at Stamford Bridge before joining Bournemouth for £20million in 2017.
The 24-year-old, who arrived at Chelsea from Feyenoord aged 16 in 2011, made six first-team appearances in the 2012-13 campaign, but played just once the following season after Mourinho replaced interim boss Rafael Benitez.
Ake told the Telegraph: "I went to the first team at Chelsea and played under Rafa Benitez and I always thought, 'why is everyone saying setbacks are coming because everything is going up, up, up?'
"The season after Benitez left I thought, 'this is going to be my season'.
"Then Jose Mourinho came and, without training, I got dropped into the second team.
"That was one of the toughest things for me, mentally. I was quite broken.
"Everything was going great, I played a few games, I was young player of the year and then I was in the reserves again."
The Premier League defeats which cost Jose Mourinho his job at Chelsea
The Premier League defeats which cost Jose Mourinho his job at Chelsea
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1/11 Jose Mourinho - the new Manchester United manager
Jose Mourinho has been appointed as Manchester United's new manager nearly six months after he was sacked as Chelsea's coach. Where, however, did it all go wrong for the Special One at Stamford Bridge? Scroll through the gallery to re-visit the key games that Mourinho's Chelsea side lost - which resulted in him leaving the club in December.
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2/11 Manchester City 3 Chelsea 0, August 16
Jose Mourinho's side suffered their first defeat of the season as goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho sent Manchester City top of the table. The loss followed a home draw with Swansea on the opening day and left the Blues 16th.
Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
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3/11 Chelsea 1 Crystal Palace 2, August 29
Chelsea suffered just their second home defeat in the Premier League under Jose Mourinho as Joel Ward's headed winner snatched three points late on. Radamel Falcao had cancelled out Bakary Sako's opener with a superb diving header, but Mourinho's men couldn't hold out for a point.
Paul Gilham/Getty Images
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4/11 Everton 3 Chelsea 1, September
Everton marched past Chelsea as they dropped to 16th in the Premier League table with defeat at Goodison Park. Steven Naismith bagged a hat-trick as Nemanja Matic's impressive first-half strike could not prevent a third loss of the season.
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5/11 Chelsea 1 Southampton 3, October 3
Chelsea's slump became something of a crisis as they suffered another home defeat. The Blues went in front through Willian, but Steven Davies, Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle bit back with interest as the Saints grabbed their first win at Chelsea since 2002. The win prompted the Chelsea board to publicly back their under-fire boss.
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6/11 West Ham 2 Chelsea 1, October 24
Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic was dismissed in the first period and Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands as Andy Carroll dealt another blow to the Blues' stuttering season.
Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images
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7/11 Chelsea 1 Liverpool 3, October 31
Jurgen Klopp sealed his first away win in the Premier League as the pressure mounted on Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. Ramires had opened the scoring but an impressive Liverpool side were level just before the break through Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian then doubled his tally in the second period before Christian Benteke coolly wrapped up an impressive win.
Clive Rose/Getty Images
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8/11 Stoke 1 Chelsea 0, November 7
Jose Mourinho watched Chelsea's defeat to Stoke from a local hotel as he served a one-match stadium ban following his behaviour towards officials in the October defeat to West Ham. The Blues played some good football in the second half but Marko Arnautovic grabbed a winner at the back post to worsen the Chelsea boss' woes.
Paul Ellis
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9/11 Chelsea 0 Bournemouth 1, December 5
Chelsea struggled to break down Premier League newcomers Bournemouth in this early-December game at Stamford Bridge. Eddie Howe's men sat deep for much of the game but substitute Glenn Murray headed a late winner as the Cherries launched a rare counter.
Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
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10/11 Leicester 2 Chelsea 1, December 14
Premier League leaders Leicester hammered the final nail into Jose Mourinho's coffin as Chelsea dropped to within a point of the relegation zone with defeat at the King Power Stadium. Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez put the Foxes two goals up before Loic Remy's second-half header proved to be only a consolation goal.
Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
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11/11 Jose Mourinho sacked
Chelsea finally parted ways with Jose Mourinho for the second time in December following a disastrous spell of nine Premier League defeats in their opening 16 games.
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Mourinho returned for his second spell at Chelsea in June 2013, succeeding Benitez, who had departed in the May after six months in the role as Roberto Di Matteo's replacement.
Ake, a regular start under Eddie Howe at Bournemouth this season, had loan spells at Reading and Watford during his time at Chelsea.
Additional reporting by the Press Association.
