September 2 – In what may be the fastest sacking of the season, former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been dismissed by Bayer Leverkusen after just three matches in the hot seat.
Ten Hag was hired in May to replace Xabi Alonso. The Dutchman won his first match in the DFB-Pokal, lost a Bundesliga opener to TSG Hoffenheim, and then drew with Werder Bremen on Saturday.
The shock decision, which seems therefore hasty, was made by the shareholders’ committee at the club on the recommendation of Bayer’s management.
Leverkusen have seen major turmoil in their playing staff since Ten Hag took charge, losing Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Amine Adli, Odilon Kossounou, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky, and Jonathan Tah. In response, the club spent €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 coming in.
“This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step,” Leverkusen managing director for sport Simon Rolfes 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.”
According to German sources, Ten Hag’s conservative approach was the exact opposite of the philosophy played under Alonso, and the players were unhappy.
Captain of the team Robert Andrich told the press after his side had surrendered a two-goal lead against Bremen that “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.
“The disastrous final phase [of the game] was a symbol of our current situation. This has nothing to do with any unrest, player transfers, or legal proceedings.”
Bayer 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.”
Football management is a high-wire act at the best of times, but three matches…that’s just plain brutal.