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- Erik ten Hag has been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after two league matches
- Ten Hag, 55, was appointed by Leverkusen on July 1st following the departure of Xabi Alonso to Spanish giants Real Madrid
Erik ten Hag has become the first manager to be sacked in Europe’s top leagues this season. The Dutch manager leaves Bayer Leverkusen after leading the Bundesliga side in just two league matches.
The decision to sack ten Hag was made on Monday morning by the club’s supervisory body and shareholders committee. Bayer Leverkusen’s managing director of sport Simon Rolfes said that building a successful team with Erik ten Hag’s style of management seemed impossible, which is why they decided to part ways with him barely two months after he took charge of the club.
Ten Hag joined Bayer Leverkusen on July 1, and has been sacked after two league matches. Photo/ BBC.
“Nobody wanted to take this step. However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this set-up 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.” Simon Rolfes is quoted by Bayer Leverkusen’s official website.
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Ten Hag, 55, was officially appointed by Leverkusen on July 1st following the departure of Xabi Alonso to Spanish giants Real Madrid. He signed a two-year contract with the club but has been sacked barely two months into his new job.
The writing was on the wall for ten Hag during the pre-season friendlies as his side suffered defeats in matches they ‘should have won’. However, the former Manchester United manager argued that there has been a major upheaval at BayArena and the team might actually require some time before regaining their top form
Things got worse for ten Hag after Leverkusen left a one-goal lead slide and suffered a 2-1 loss at home in their opening league match of the season.
On Saturday, Leverkusen failed to beat Werder Bremen despite twice holding a two-goal lead. The match ended 3-3 and captain Robert Andrich made remarks that horribly reflected on ten Hag’s management. The 30-year-old stated that many of his teammates are only concerned with themselves. That was the final nail on the coffin for the former Ajax boss.
Erik ten Hag sacking is the fastest in Bundesliga history, breaking the previous record of a manager sacked after five matches. The Dutchman won just one point out of a possible six in his first two league matches for Leverkusen.
Shockingly, ten Hag joins the list of former Manchester United managers who have been sacked in the the span of a week. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked by Besiktas on Thursday and Jose Mourinho parted ways with Fenerbahce the following day.
Ole Gunnar was dismissed from his job after Besiktas failed to qualify for the Conference League while Fenerbahce sacked Mourinho after the club failed to qualify for the league phase of the UEFA Champions League.
Busy Summer For Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen have had several departures and arrivals this summer. One of ten Hag’s main role was finding suitable replacements for the top stars who departed earlier in the summer.
Erik ten Hag has been sacked by Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. Photo/ Goal.com.
Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli and Granit Xhaka all secured moves to Premier League sides. Wirtz and Frimpong joined Liverpool for £116 million and £29.5 million, respectively. Meanwhile, Xhaka was recruited by newly promoted side Sunderland for £13 million whereas winger signed with Bournemouth for a reported £25.1 million.
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Former Liverpool man Jarell Quansah, Malik Tillman and Eliesse Ben Seghir arrived at BayArena for a total of £88.4 million, including bonuses.
Bayer Leverkusen will be on the lookout for a new manager in the coming days as assistant head coach has been tasked with leading the team’s training.
