Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after just three games in charge of the Bundesliga club.
The Dutchman only took over from Xabi Alonso this summer but has reportedly already fallen out with the Leverkusen hierarchy and a draw and a defeat from their first two league games has seen him sacked from the role.
Simon Rolfes, managing director of sport, said: “This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step. However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this setup is not feasible. We firmly believe in the quality of our team and will now do everything we can to take the next steps in our development with a new setup.”
CEO Fernando Carro said: “A parting of ways at this early stage of the season is painful, but we felt it was necessary. We remain committed to achieving our goals for the season – and to do that, we need the best possible conditions at all levels and across the entire first team. Now it’s a matter of fully implementing and utilising these conditions again.”
The sudden departure comes after a 3-3 draw with Werder Bremen, a result that saw club captain Robert Andrich tear into his team-mates.
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“Everyone played for themselves, everyone ran around the pitch on their own,” Andrich said. “We have too many players who are preoccupied with other things or only with themselves. I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced that at Bayer.
“The disastrous final phase was a symbol of our current situation. This has nothing to do with any unrest, player transfers, or legal proceedings.
“They see: They’re leading 2-1, could make it 3-1, and are discussing a penalty first. These are the little things that build up an opponent. We can’t stand around for two minutes and play rock-paper-scissors to see who’s going to take the penalty. That’s one of many things that aren’t going well for us at the moment.”
Ten Hag’s task was also not made any easier by the number of outgoings from the club this summer. The team that Alonso guided to an invincible league campaign in 2023-24 has been picked apart, with Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Odilon Kossounou and Granit Xhaka all leaving. Meanwhile Alonso went to Real Madrid.
Ten Hag admitted at the weekend that having players leave “hurts.”
“Letting good players leave always hurts,” he said. “But we also have other good players and they then need to take on that task.”
Ten Hag has now been sacked from his two previous jobs, having lost the United gig in October 2024.
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