Leverkusen sack Erik ten Hag after two league matches

Bayer Leverkusen have sacked manager Erik ten Hag after just two Bundesliga matches in charge, the club announced on Monday.

Fired by Manchester United last October, Ten Hag signed a contract until 2027 in May, taking over as the successor to Xabi Alonso, who moved to Real Madrid.

But the Dutchman had to contend with the sale of a handful of the Leverkusen stars who won the Bundesliga title in 2024 and his new team have struggled in the first few games of the new season.

"This decision was not easy for us. Nobody wanted to take this step," sporting director Simon Rolfes said in a statement.

"The past few weeks have shown that the steps to build a new and successful team have not been effective," Rolfes said.

Club CEO Fernando Carro said the decision was "painful, but necessary".

The 55-year-old Dutchman now has the unwanted record of breaking the previous mark for a coach of five matches before dismissal.

Named United manager in July 2022, Ten Hag won the FA and League Cups but was let go after a run of just one win in eight matches midway through the 2024-25 season, the club's worst start to a campaign in the Premier League era.

Ten Hag took over after the most successful period in Leverkusen's history and was tasked with overseeing a dramatic rebuild.

Leverkusen won an unbeaten league and cup double in 2023-24, including a first ever Bundesliga title.

They have sold several core members of the team this summer, including Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli and Lukas Hradecky.

The club did not name a replacement for Ten Hag on Monday, saying the "training work would be taken over by the assistant coaching staff for the time being".

Named Leverkusen manager on July 1, Ten Hag's first match in charge was a 5-1 drubbing by Flamengo's under-20s team in a friendly in Brazil.

After a 4-0 win over fourth-tier Sonnenhof Grossaspach in their German Cup opener, Leverkusen claimed one point from their first two Bundesliga fixtures.

Leverkusen let a one-goal lead slip to lose 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim and on Saturday conceded two late goals against a 10-man Werder Bremen to draw 3-3, having led 2-0 and 3-1.

On Sunday, German outlets Bild and Kicker both reported Ten Hag was facing the sack, despite his short tenure at the club.

Bild reported the coach had "lost credit internally in a very short time" and there was "no personal connection between him and the players".

Kicker said Ten Hag's style of "communication, lack of match preparation, in-game coaching and tactical approach" was a "culture shock" and showed "a lack of prospect of success".

The tabloid reported Ten Hag was left out of discussions on the signing of former Real defender Lucas Vazquez, who joined Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Ten Hag was tasked with bedding in more than a dozen new signings ahead of this season, including several young players.

The three most expensive signings in the club's history -- Malik Tilmann, Jarell Quansah and Eliesse Ben Seghir -- all arrived this summer, for a combined cost of 102 million euros ($120 million) plus bonuses.

The Dutchman is the third former United coach to be fired this week after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Besiktas and Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce.