In a shocking development, Erik Ten Hag has been sacked by German club Bayer Leverkusen after the Dutchman had managed the team for just three games. The former Manchester United boss was taken up for the role in May and had replaced Xabi Alonso, who had left for Real Madrid.
Leverkusen's dramatic draw against Bremen
Levekusen dismissed Ten Hag on Monday following the side's 3-3 draw against 10-men Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The Bundesliga champions from the 2023/24 season were leading the match by 3-1 at one stage, but ended up conceding two late goals, including a 94th minute equalizer.
Notably, Leverkusen had ended up losing their Bundesliga opener against Hoffenheim by 1-2 at home. Ten Hag's only victory with the German Club was their 4-0 thrashing of Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
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“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," Leverkusen's managing director, Simon Rolfes said in a statement.
“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," Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro said.
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Interestingly, Ten Hag has become the third former Manchester United manager to have been sacked in the space a week. Recently, Ole Gunnar Solskjær had been sacked by Besiktas and José Mourinho had parted ways with Fenerbahce. It now remains to be seen who will replace Ten Hag as Leverkusen's boss.