Bayer Leverkusen has parted ways with coach Erik ten Hag after just two months on the job, the Bundesliga club said on Monday.
Dutchman ten Hag had to go after Leverkusen managed only one point from their first two league matches: a 2-1 home defeat against Hoffenheim and a 3-3 draw at Werder Bremen, where they squandered a two-goal lead against 10 Bremen players.
Ten Hag reportedly also lost credit in other areas at the club, and Leverkusen bosses had not backed him before and after Saturday’s match in Bremen.
The team’s next match is after the international break on September 12 against Eintracht Frankfurt. Leverkusen said that the assistant coaches will be in charge on an interim basis.
Former Ajax and Manchester United coach ten Hag, 55, had succeeded Xabi Alonso, who moved on to Real Madrid, at the 2024 Bundesliga and German Cup champions on July 1 and had a contract until 2027.
“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,” Sporting managing director Simon Rolfes said in a club statement.
“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.”
Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro added, “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.”
The club said the decision to part ways with ten Hag was reached by the shareholders’ committee and the club’s supervisory body, on the recommendation of the club management.
Ten Hag had a difficult task in Leverkusen as key players of the 2024 Invincibles squad have left in the summer, led by Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Granit Xhaka, and Jeremie Frimpong. New players have arrived, but it takes time to integrate them and form a new team.
Captain Robert Andrich had voiced criticism after the Bremen match, saying the players did not perform as a team.
Asked whether the players had not played according to ten Hag’s instructions or whether they didn’t know what they were supposed to do, Andrich said: “It is a mixture of both.”
Ten Hag was reportedly not the first choice candidate to take over from Alonso, but their preferred candidate Cesc Fabregas eventually stayed at his Italian club Como.
By Jana Glose and Thomas Esser, dpa
