Erik ten Hag was dismissed by Bayer: Why the coach lasted only 62 days.
Erik ten Hag was dismissed by Bayer Leverkusen
According to The Sun: Erik ten Hag quit his position as head coach of Bayer Leverkusen less than two months after his appointment.
The 50-year-old coach left the club without a single win in the league and played only two matches.
ReutersTen Hag joined Leverkusen in May and signed a two-year contract. His appointment was a response to the departure of Xavi Alonso to Real.
However, the start of the season was a failure, and club director Simon Rolfes decided to dismiss the coach.
A failed start
Ten Hag's first match as coach ended in a defeat: Leverkusen lost 1-5 to Flamengo's U-team.
The season started with a 4-0 victory against SG Sonnenhof Großaspach in the DFB-Pokal, but in the league, the team lost to Hoffenheim 1-2.
An embarrassing draw 3-3 against Werder was the last straw, after which ten Hag finally left the club.
Getty
Getty
Loss of players
Ten Hag faced serious losses in the squad: Leverkusen sold several key players, including Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz.
Although the coach hoped to keep Granit Xhaka, he was ultimately sold to Sunderland within a week.
Getty
Discontent in the team
The disastrous game against Werder showed that there were differences in the team: players even argued during the execution of a penalty kick.
The team's captain, Robert Andrich, expressed his dissatisfaction, stating:
“Every player played for themselves, we need more unity.”
“Painful” dismissal
After the embarrassing draw, ten Hag admitted that it was
“unacceptable”, but he did not expect such a quick dismissal.
The leadership of Leverkusen decided that it wouldn't be possible to form a successful team with ten Hag, thus they were looking for a new coach.
Simon Rolfes noted:
“This decision was not easy for us. However, the past weeks have shown that it is impossible to form a new team with this squad.”
Alamy
PA
All this indicates that Leverkusen is in a difficult situation. The loss of the coach after such a short time shows the instability in the team and possibly serious problems with the atmosphere in the club. The management now needs to quickly find a new coach to stabilize the situation and get the team back on track. Read also
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