LEBAKUSENSEN, Germany (AP) — Eric Ten Hag went on for three games with Bayer LEABAKUSENSEN.
The Dutch coach was fired Monday after questions came to Leverkusen about the ability of the former Manchester United manager to oversee the successful restructuring of the German team after the key players left the country in the summer.
“This decision wasn’t easy for us,” Simon Rolfs, sports director at Leverkusen, said in a statement. “No one wanted to take this step, but the last few weeks have shown that building a new, successful team with this setup is not an effective achievement. We are a firm believer in the quality of our teams and we will do everything in our efforts to take the next step in development with our new constellations.”
Leverkusen was beaten 2-1 at home on Ten Hag’s Bundesliga debut by Hoffenheim, wasting a two-goal lead, allowing 10 Werder Bremen to grab a 3-3 draw on Saturday.
Kicker Magazine had already reported Thursday before a second-league match that Leverkusen’s management was rethinking Ten Hag’s work.
“Breaking up early in the season is painful, but it was necessary from our perspective,” said Fernando Karo, CEO of Leverkusen.
That was the 10 hug at 55 years old. appointed as an alternative to Xabi Alonso In May, he was commissioned to manage a major overhaul of the 2024 Bundesliga winning team.
Ten Hag warned earlier this month that he wasn’t a magician and that after summer changes it would take some time for Leverkusen to play again as a true team.
“You can’t force the process. It’s impossible. No one is like Harry Potter,” said Ten Hag before making his debut with four-tier team Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the German Cup.
Leverkusen ultimately won that game 4-0, but struggled after Grossaspach sent out the players and scored a second goal.
Ten Hag previously used the Harry Potter line during his time at United.
After losing to Liverpool in September 2024, Ten Hag said he wasn’t Harry Potter, explaining the difficulty of relying on players who don’t have much time to play. Within two months, He was fired.
Leverkusen never showed any potential successor to Ten Hag. The team’s next match after the international break will be at home on September 12th against informant Eintracht Frankfurt.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
