Erik ten Hag Sacked by Leverkusen After Record-Breaking Short Spell
Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been dismissed by Bayer Leverkusen after only two league games in charge, setting an unwanted Bundesliga record for the fastest managerial sacking. The decision was announced just days after a dramatic 3-3 draw with Werder Bremen, where Leverkusen threw away a two-goal lead against a side reduced to ten men.
Ten Hag, who had signed a two-year deal in May to replace Xabi Alonso, described the move as “a complete surprise.” He argued that managers deserve time and trust to implement their vision, especially when tasked with rebuilding a team. Several of Leverkusen’s key players departed over the summer, including Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool, Granit Xhaka to Sunderland, Jonathan Tah to Bayern Munich, and long-serving goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to Monaco. In their place, more than a dozen new signings arrived, many of them young and untested.
The Dutch coach, who previously enjoyed great success with Ajax before winning domestic cups with United, expressed frustration at being denied the chance to shape the squad. He insisted that, throughout his career, clubs who kept faith in him were eventually rewarded with silverware. By contrast, he suggested this relationship with Leverkusen “was never based on mutual trust.”
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From the club’s perspective, both managing director Simon Rolfes and CEO Fernando Carro admitted the choice was painful but said the first weeks had revealed “building a new and successful team with this set-up is not feasible.” They stressed that conditions across the squad must be right to achieve success in the Bundesliga and Champions League, where Leverkusen will soon face Manchester City and Newcastle.
The statistics of Ten Hag’s short reign are stark: one cup win against fourth-tier opposition, one league defeat to Hoffenheim, and one draw against Bremen. That single point leaves Leverkusen five points behind leaders Bayern Munich after just two matches. For a club that won the league and cup double under Alonso only a season ago, the early setback was judged intolerable.
Adding to the sense of turmoil, Ten Hag’s dismissal followed a pattern: within a single week, two other former United managers—Ole Gunnar Solskjær and José Mourinho—also lost their jobs in Turkey with Besiktas and Fenerbahce. Ten Hag’s departure means he has now been sacked twice in under a year, first from Manchester United last October and now from Leverkusen in record time.
For now, assistant coaches will take charge of training as the club searches for a permanent successor. The spotlight will quickly return when they host Eintracht Frankfurt after the international break, a fixture already loaded with pressure.
In the end, Ten Hag’s words underline the brutal truth of modern football: time is a luxury managers are rarely given, and even reputations built on past success offer little protection when results fail to come immediately.
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