‘Unprecedented’ – Ten Hag criticises Leverkusen sacking

Erik ten Hag, the ex-Manchester United manager, describes Bayer Leverkusen’s decision to fire him after just two league games as “a complete surprise.”

After serving for two and a half years in charge at United, the 55-year-old was only hired by the German club in the summer.

Ten Hag criticized the club’s management in a statement, calling his dismissal “unprecedented” and saying that “this was never a relationship based on mutual trust” for not giving him the “time” or “space” to “implement his vision.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired by Besiktas on Thursday, and Jose Mourinho left Fenerbahce on Friday, making him the third former United boss in a week.

The previous five-game sacking record was broken by the fastest sacking in Bundesliga history.

“It came as a complete surprise when Bayer Leverkusen chose to give me a leave of absence this morning. It’s unprecedented to end a relationship with a manager after just two league games, Ten Hag said.

“Many important players who were a part of the squad’s successes this summer have left.” Time and trust are required to create a new, cohesive team.

“I had full conviction and drive when I first started this job, but I regret regretfully that the management did not give me the time and trust I needed. This relationship, in my opinion, was never one of mutual trust.

Every season I’ve been able to see through as a coach has resulted in success throughout my career. Clubs who trusted me have received success and silverware.

From their first two league games, Leverkusen have only managed one point.

After leading 2-0 and 3-1 at home to Hoffenheim, they let slip a one-goal lead and lost 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim. On Saturday, they conceded two late goals against 10-man Werder Bremen to draw 3-3.

Ten Hag’s first game in charge was a 4-0 victory over SG Sonnenhof Grossaspach on August 15 with a German Cup win.

After Leverkusen won the German league and cup double in 2023-2019, he was appointed Real Madrid manager and signed a two-year contract with the Spanish national in May.

No one wanted to do this, according to Everkusen’s website, according to managing director Simon Rolfes.

However, recent weeks have demonstrated that using this set-up to create a new and prosperous team is not feasible.

Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro added that it was painful to end relationships at this early stage of the season.

After losing a number of key players in the summer, Ten Hag was given the task of bedding in more than a dozen brand-new players this year.

Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong both signed for the Reds for a fee that grew to £116 million, and Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz both signed for Sunderland for an additional £13 million.

Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky joined Monaco, while defender Jonathan Tah signed for Bayern Munich on a free transfer, and winger Amine Adli signed for Bournemouth in a deal worth up to £25.1 million.

This summer, Malik Tillman from PSV Eindhoven, Jarell Quansah from Liverpool, and Eliesse Ben Seghir from Monaco all signed for a sum of 88.4 million euros plus add-ons, making them the three most expensive signings in Leverkusen’s history.

Rolfes continued, “This decision was not an easy one for us.”

We firmly believe in the character of our team, and we will make every effort to implement a new set-up as we move forward with our development.

Ten Hag’s replacement was not named by the club, who claimed that “the assistant coaching staff would take over the training work for the time being.”

Carro continued, “We remain determined to achieve our goals for the season, and to do that, we require the best possible conditions at all levels and across the entire first team,” he added.

It’s now necessary to fully implement and use these conditions once more.

Leverkusen, the champions of the Champions League last season, will face Manchester City on November 25 and Newcastle on December 10 as their opponents.