In the midst of the craziness of the end of the summer transfer window, Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen has fired manager Erik ten Hag following a difficult start to the season in which the Dutchman lost both of his first two domestic games in command of 12th-placed Die Werkself.
Former Manchester United manager from 2022 to 2024, Haaksbergen-born Ten Hag was chosen by Leverkusen chiefs to replace Xabi Alonso, who moved to European juggernauts Real Madrid in the summer.
Competitively, his first game in charge in Germany ended in a 4-0 victory over Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the first round of the DFB Pokal – but the 55-year-old’s winless record in the Bundesliga meant that retaining his job was out of the question, and he has now been fired.
Ten Hag Sacked by Bayer Leverkusen After Two-Game Winless Streak in 2025/26 Bundesliga Season
Kicker, a well-known German tabloid, stated on Sunday that Ten Hag was walking on thin ice as the international break approached. His debut match in the BayArena dugout was a 2-1 loss to Hoffenheim on August 23, followed by a 3-3 draw with Werder Bremen.
The six-goal thriller, in which Leverkusen led until Bremen equalized in the 94th minute, was the final nail in the coffin. Fabrizio Romano told X (previously Twitter) that Leverkusen’s boardroom managers made the choice this morning and Ten Hag was informed.
“EXCLUSIVE: Erik ten Hag has been Sacked by Bayer Leverkusen. The club’s hierarchy made the decision this morning, and the manager was notified right away.
Ten Hag took over for interim manager Ralf Rangnick at Old Trafford in May 2022, and he won two titles in a row. After a 2-1 loss to West Ham in 2024, club officials parted relations with the Dutchman, who rose to prominence in his homeland as manager of Ajax.
Following in the footsteps of Alonso was always going to be difficult, as the Spaniard immortalised his name in the club’s mythology by leading them to an unbeaten Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2023/24.
Ten Hag claimed that his club, which had recently signed Jarell Quansah and Malik Tillman from Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven, respectively, were not physically prepared for the new season after drawing 3-3 with Bremen on Saturday, August 30. According to The Sun, he said
“The players are not prepared. We have a new team, and some of the players are not physically healthy enough to play. The team did not function at all in the final stages of the game. That’s just the way things are. To satisfy my expectations, they must increase their intensity and improve their fitness.
xz
