Erik Ten Hag Sacked by Bayer Leverkusen After Three Games, Here's Why

Liputan6.com, Jakarta Dutch football manager Erik ten Hag has once again been in the spotlight after being sacked as head coach of Bayer Leverkusen.

This surprising decision was made by the club's management on September 1, 2025, just weeks after Ten Hag began his tenure at the German club, as reported by Fabrizio Romano.

The dismissal came after Ten Hag had only led the team in three official matches: two Bundesliga matches and one DFB-Pokal match.

This marked Ten Hag's second dismissal in less than a year, as he had also been fired from Manchester United the previous season.

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Erik ten Hag has just been SACKED by Bayer Leverkusen.Decision made by the club’s hierarchy this morning and manager informed right now. pic.twitter.com/WjraNnhntA

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2025

Erik ten Hag was officially sacked by Bayer Leverkusen on September 1, 2025.

His tenure at the club was remarkably short, possibly one of the shortest in Bundesliga managerial history.

As reported by The Guardian, "Erik ten Hag has been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after just three games."

Ten Hag himself was only appointed head coach of Bayer Leverkusen on May 26, 2025, with a contract that was supposed to run until 2027.

He took office on July 1, 2025, replacing Xabi Alonso, who had previously led the club to success.

Erik ten Hag's dismissal from Bayer Leverkusen was due to a series of unsatisfactory results at the start of the season.

CBSSports.com reported that "Leverkusen lost their season-opening home game to Hoffenheim before drawing 3-3 against 10-man Werder Bremen in their second Bundesliga match of the season."

The club's management stated that the decision to dismiss Ten Hag, while difficult, was deemed necessary.

They reasoned that "the past few weeks have shown that building a successful new team with this setup cannot be achieved effectively."

On the other hand, Ten Hag himself was reportedly surprised by the dismissal.

He felt he was not given enough time and trust to build the team and produce the desired results.

Erik ten Hag faced a significant challenge when he took over as manager at Bayer Leverkusen.

He was tasked with rebuilding the team following the departure of Xabi Alonso, who had led the club to success, and the departure of several key players.

The club had to let go of several key players, including Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Granit Xhaka, who all left Leverkusen.

The loss of these key players undoubtedly made it difficult for Ten Hag to quickly build a solid and competitive squad.

His dismissal from Leverkusen followed his dismissal from Manchester United on October 28, 2024, following a poor start to the season that saw the club finish 14th in the league.

🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Erik ten Hag responds to Bayer Leverkusen's decision to SACK him!"The decision by Bayer Leverkusen this morning to put me on a leave of absence came as a complete surprise. To part ways with a manager after just two league matches is unprecedented. This… pic.twitter.com/TgEdaTBhS5

— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) September 1, 2025

Erik ten Hag had a long and varied managerial career before joining Bayer Leverkusen.

He began his coaching career at Go Ahead Eagles in 2012, where he led the club to promotion to the Eredivisie in his first season.

His managerial success came with Ajax Amsterdam from 2018 to 2022.

During that time, "he won three Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, and led the team to the semifinals of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League."

He also won the Johan Cruyff Shield in 2019.

In April 2022, Ten Hag took on the challenge of becoming manager of Manchester United.

During his tenure at Old Trafford, Man United won the EFL Cup and FA Cup consecutively.

However, the Dutch manager was widely criticized for make small significant progress in the Premier League or European competition.

This makes him to be sacked by the English club in October 2024 and replaced by Portuguese manager, Ruben Amorim.