Erik ten Hag has just been fired as head coach of Bayer Leverkusen. His time was brief and stormy, enduring only two Bundesliga games in charge. The 55-year-old Dutch manager, who previously led Ajax Amsterdam to notable success, faced challenges at Leverkusen following his replacement of Xabi Alonso in May. Alonso departed the club after being poached by Real Madrid. This sudden departure in turn left ten Hag with a set of exceedingly high expectations to live up to.
It’s been a short-lived stay at the top for Ten Hag, and it started out with a bang. He savored a 4-0 thumping of fourth tier Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the first round of the German Cup. That optimism didn’t last long, though, as he suffered defeat in his first Bundesliga match in charge – a 2-1 defeat at home to Hoffenheim. Matters only worsened for his side when they had to settle for an annoying 3-3 tie with ten-man Werder Bremen. This result demonstrated their struggle with consistency and cohesion in the player pool.
No one is going through more drastic managerial upheaval at the moment than Bayer Leverkusen. Ten Hag now finds himself sinking into the undesirable company of managers dismissed after under five matches. He excelled at Ajax, winning three consecutive Eredivisie titles during his dominant spell there. Later, he left his mark at Manchester United by winning both the FA Cup and League Cup. Ten Hag was the third managerial casualty at Manchester United by late October. At the time, the club was floundering in the 14th position in the Premier League table.
Despite his past accomplishments, his current challenges at Leverkusen were exacerbated by the departures of key players such as Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong. The club’s management expressed their disappointment regarding the early termination of ten Hag’s contract.
“A parting of ways at this early stage of the season is painful, but we felt it was necessary,” – Fernando Carro
Carro, the club’s CEO, emphasized the need for optimal conditions across the entire first team to achieve their goals for the season. In a parallel fashion, Sporting Director Simon Rolfes said of the difficult decision, “It was very hard to convey this message.
“This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step,” – Simon Rolfes
He continued that recent results showed that creating a winning culture with the current framework was untenable.
