Erik Ten Hag was fired by Bayer Leverkusen after just three games in charge of Bundesliga’s side. The former Manchester United boss failed to win any of his first two Bundesliga games, and the club’s hierarchy decided to end his surprising short tenure in Germany.
The 10-hug team fell into a 2-1 loss despite starting the league season at Hoffenheim’s home and leading the early goals of former Liverpool defender Jarrell Kuanza, who won his debut. However, the goals of Fisnik Asllani and Tim Lemperle denounced Ten Hag for the losing start of his Leverkusen career.
The final straw of the decision to say goodbye with a 10 hug came when his Leverkusen side fought back into a 3-3 draw despite playing with one lesser man in the final 30 minutes of the game.
Despite starting Leverkusen’s career with a 4-0 victory over Sonnenhof Grossaspach in DFB Pokal, the early forms of the league were not negligible for the club’s chief who pulled the trigger with his loot. It was early this summer that the 55-year-old signed a two-year contract as he replaced Xabi Alonso, who was appointed successor to Real Ancelotti.
The club has since read, “Weier04 Leberkusen has parted ways with head coach Eric Ten Hag. Training will be carried over for the time being.” It was a summer of massive change for Leverkusen, who sold Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Jonathan Tah, Granit Xhaka and Odilon Kossouunou with the dramatic team change of 2023-24 titles.
Ten Hag’s decision to join the German side came six months after he was fired by Manchester United. United finished third and eighth in two full seasons at the helm by Dutchman, winning the EFL Cup and FA Cup in back-to-back seasons.
Ten Hag, who was to become the final round of Saturday’s post-match interview, admitted that some of his players lacked fitness and that wholesale changes made within the team made it difficult for them to gel quickly. He told Skye: “The players are not ready.
“We have a new team and some players aren’t fit enough to play. The team didn’t work at all at the end of the game. That’s exactly what it is. They need to bring in more strength and get fitters to meet my standards.”
