Erik ten Hag has been sacked from his position as head coach of Bayer Leverkusen just three games into his tenure.
Former Manchester United manager Ten Hag signed a two-year contract upon replacing Xabi Alonso in the dugout at the BayArena this summer, after the Spanish coach was appointed as Carlo Ancelotti’s successor at Real Madrid.
Leverkusen began their 2025-26 season with a 4-0 win over fourth-tier side Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the DFB Pokal, their four-goal margin helped by their opponents being reduced to nine players during the match.
They opened the Bundesliga season with a 2-1 defeat by Hoffenheim, and this Saturday, let slip a 3-1 lead to Werder Bremen, who had been hampered by Niklas Stark’s red card, to draw 3-3 at the Weserstadion.
Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s managing director for 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.”
Rolfes added in a press conference later on Monday that “things were going in the wrong direction.”
“We have new players,” he said. “So it’s important that there is clarity on many points, that the direction is clear. And we’ve been lacking that in some areas. We’re not naive in thinking that after many player changes everything was going to work immediately.
“This will be a process; we have good players. But it is a process that will see us develop into a really good team. We need the players to work together – on and off the pitch — and to form a strong unit again. But for this process, it was important that there was clarity and direction.”
Leverkusen’s CEO Fernando Carro said the decision was a “painful but necessary” one for the Bundesliga side.
“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 departure of Alonso and appointment of Ten Hag marked just one factor in a huge summer of change at the club. Florian Wirtz, who had been Leverkusen’s star player for several years and played an instrumental role in their 2023-24 title win, left to join Liverpool alongside Jeremie Frimpong. Captain Granit Xhaka also left the club to sign for Premier League newcomers Sunderland.
Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and midfielder Amine Adli also departed for Monaco and Bournemouth respectively.
Ten Hag was sacked by United in October 2024 with his side placed 14th in the Premier League table. The 55-year-old led the Manchester club to two trophies: the Carabao Cup in 2023 and FA Cup in 2024.
At the time, United’s eighth-place finish under Ten Hag in the 2023-24 season was their lowest in the Premier League era. Their 15th-place finish last season set a new record.
Before taking over at United, Ten Hag had a highly successful four and a half years in charge of Ajax. The Dutchman won three Eredivisie titles and guided his team to the Champions League semi-finals in the 2018-19 season.
‘Quick decision – but not necessarily a wrong one’
The collapse against Werder Bremen did not help and, of course, the opening day loss at home to Hoffenheim was also an ugly way for the season to start, but this is really about what those results describe, rather than what they literally represent.
Ten Hag had a difficult task. Replacing Xabi Alonso, whose attacking football so enraptured the Leverkusen players and whose charisma made him so popular, was always unenviable. Equally, the turnover in players and the loss of talent and leadership this summer has put the club in a deep state of flux.
So, there are mitigating factors, but the playing squad just have not taken to ten Hag’s style of coaching or man-management and the decision to pull the plug now, after just two competitive games, is Leverkusen’s recognition that a mistake has been made and that it would be better to correct it as soon as possible.
It’s not a situation that reflects well on anyone — the club or ten Hag — but this quick decision is not necessarily a wrong one.
(Photo: Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)
