3 weeks ago
9
Erik ten Hag has been dismissed by Bayer Leverkusen after merely two league fixtures.
The German team brought in the former Manchester United boss to replace Xabi Alonso, the Liverpool legend who moved to Real Madrid in the summer, prior to the current campaign. However, following a challenging beginning to his tenure in Germany, managing only one point from his initial two Bundesliga encounters, Ten Hag has now been shown the door.
A club statement confirmed: "Bayer 04 Leverkusen have parted ways with head coach Erik ten Hag. This was decided by the shareholders' committee, the club's supervisory body, on the recommendation of the management of Bayer 04.
"Training will be overseen by the current backroom staff on an interim basis."
Meanwhile, the club's sporting director, Simon Rolfes, commented: "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 suffered defeat in its opening match, losing 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim despite establishing an early advantage through Jarell Quansah's strike.
Saturday saw Leverkusen surrender a commanding 3-1 advantage away to 10-man Werder Bremen, settling for a 3-3 stalemate that left them wallowing in the division's lower reaches.
Following Saturday's setback, he shared with Sky: "The players aren't ready.
"We have a new team, and some of the players aren't at all fit enough to play.
"The team didn't function at all during the final stage of the game. That's just the way it is.
"They need to bring more intensity and get fitter in order to meet my standards."
As well as losing manager Alonso, Leverkusen lost two key players to Liverpool this summer: Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz.
Quansah, meanwhile, moved in the opposite direction.
English (US) ·