Bayer Leverkusen have sacked head coach Erik ten Hag after just three matches in charge.
Ten Hag replaced Xabi Alonso as head coach in May and signed a two-year-contract. But Ten Hag’s stay at Leverkusen has been brief after a poor start to the 2025-26 season.
Leverkusen lost their season opener against TSG Hoffenheim at home and then drew 3-3 with Werder Bremen at the weekend. They won their DFB-Pokal first round tie against fourth-tier SG Sonnenhof but since that match on Aug. 15, ex-Manchester United manager Ten Hag’s tenure turned sour at the 2024 Bundesliga champions.
The decision was made by the shareholders’ committee at the club and on the recommendation of Bayer’s management.
It has been a summer of upheaval at Leverkusen with several of the stars who led them to the Bundesliga title in 2024 leaving the club.
Ten Hag took charge as Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Amine Adli, Odilon Kossounou, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah all left the club.
In response, Leverkusen spent in the region of €170 million ($199.31m) to rebuild the squad with Malik Tillman, Jarell Quansah, Eliesse Ben Seghir, Loïc Badé, Ibrahim Maza, Mark Flekken and Ernest Poku all arriving.
“This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step,” Simon Rolfes, Bayer’s managing director for sport, said.
“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.”
Ten Hag, who managed ManUnited from 2022 to 2024, replaced Alonso, who joined Real Madrid in the summer. Under Alonso, Bayer Leverkusen won the 2024 title while they were runners-up last season.
But while Alonso played attacking football, Ten Hag’s conservative style did not marry with the players. A source has told ESPN Bayer Leverkusen were keen to make this change sooner rather than later.
Things were clearly in a dismal state after the clash with Werder Bremen on Saturday.
They surrendered a two-goal lead and afterwards, captain Robert Andrich was clearly frustrated.
“Everyone played for themselves, everyone ran around the pitch on their own. 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,” he said.
“The disastrous final phase [of the draw] was a symbol of our current situation. This has nothing to do with any unrest, player transfers or legal proceedings.”
Bayer CEO Fernando Carro added: A parting of ways at this early stage of the season is painful, but we felt it was necessary,” Bayer CEO Fernando Carro said.
“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.”–ESPN
