Erik ten Hag has been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after just three games in charge of the Bundesliga side. The ex-Manchester United boss failed to win either of his first two Bundesliga games and the club’s hierarchy has surprisingly decided to end his short tenure in Germany.

Beginning the league season at home to Hoffenheim, Ten Hag’s side fell to a shock 2-1 defeat, despite leading through an early goal from ex-Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah who netted on his debut. However, goals from Fisnik Asllani and Tim Lemperle condemned Ten Hag to a losing start in his Leverkusen career.

The last straw in the decision to part ways with Ten Hag occurred on Saturday when his Leverkusen side gave up a 3-1 lead Werder Bremen who fought back to draw 3-3 despite playing with one less man for the last 30 minutes of the game.

Despite beginning his Leverkusen career with a resounding 4-0 win over Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the DFB Pokal, their early form in the league was too much to ignore for the club’s chiefs who pulled the trigger on his sacking. It was only earlier this summer that the 55-year-old signed a two-year deal as he replaced Xabi Alonso who was appointed as Carlo Ancelotti’s successor at Real Madrid.

The club have since released a statement regarding Ten Hag’s sacking which read: “Bayer 04 Leverkusen has parted ways with head coach Erik ten Hag with immediate effect. Training will be taken over by the assistant coaching staff for the time being.” It had been a summer of mass change for Leverkusen who sold the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Jonathan Tah, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka and Odilon Kossounou in a drastic squad change of their 2023-24 title triumph.

Ten Hag’s decision to join the German side came six months after he was sacked by Manchester United, having left the side placed 14th in the Premier League table at the time. United finished 3rd and 8th in the two full seasons the Dutchman had at the helm, while he won the EFL Cup and FA Cup in consecutive seasons.

In what ended up being his last round of post-match interviews on Saturday, Ten Hag admitted that his some of his players lack fitness and the wholesale changes made within the squad has made it difficult for them to immediately gel. He told 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.”