‘Complete surprise’: Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag fired after just 3 games in charge of German club | CNN | Goose Pod

Authors: Ben Church

Publisher:

CNN

Published: 9/2/2025

Language:English

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Tom Banks

Good morning 跑了松鼠好嘛, I'm Tom Banks, and this is Goose Pod for you. Today is Saturday, September 06th.

Mask

And I'm Mask. We're here to discuss a complete surprise: Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag getting fired after just three games in charge of a German club. An absolutely brutal, but necessary, move.

Tom Banks

Let's get started. It's truly stunning. Bayer Leverkusen, the German champions, sacked Erik ten Hag after only 63 days and just two league matches. He was hired to replace a club legend, Xabi Alonso, and this is how it ends. It’s almost unprecedented in the Bundesliga.

Mask

Unprecedented? Maybe. Inefficient? No. The data was clear. He lost one, drew one. The team was in disarray. Why wait for the inevitable decline? Cut your losses early. The market is already buzzing with replacements like Real Madrid's Raúl or even Edin Terzić. Move fast, break things.

Tom Banks

But there's a human element, isn't there? He said it was a 'complete surprise' and that the management wasn't willing to grant him the time or trust he needed. After the turmoil at Manchester United, you'd think he'd be given a bit of a longer leash to start.

Mask

Leashes are for pets, not for high-performance executives responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. His job was to build on success, not complain about trust after two games. The leash was exactly as long as his results. End of story.

Tom Banks

Well, the background makes it even more dramatic. This is a club nicknamed 'Neverkusen' because for years they came so close to glory but always fell short. They had four second-place finishes between 1997 and 2002, and who could forget the 'Treble Horror' of 2002?

Mask

Ancient history. Xabi Alonso erased that 'Neverkusen' nonsense by winning the league undefeated. Ten Hag's job was simple: don't wreck the machine. Instead, he reportedly arrives, reschedules a friendly against an under-20s team which they lose 5-1, and then criticizes players for not being fit enough.

Tom Banks

That does seem like a rocky start. The reports also mentioned he had no pre-match talk before the season opener. And he clashed with the board over letting Granit Xhaka leave. It sounds like the issues went far beyond just a couple of poor results on the pitch.

Mask

Exactly. It's a failure of leadership and integration. He was handed the keys to a championship-winning organization and immediately started trying to redesign the engine while driving. It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the assignment. Alonso learned German; Ten Hag learned how to alienate his bosses.

Tom Banks

It's a stark contrast. He came in after they lost key players like Wirtz and Frimpong, so it was always going to be a rebuilding job. But his tenure was one day shy of nine weeks. He won a single competitive game, against a fourth-division team. It’s just... wild.

Tom Banks

The conflict here seems to be a classic case of irreconcilable differences. Ten Hag's statement reads like a man who feels betrayed, believing he needed time to implement his vision. He felt the relationship was never based on mutual trust, which is a strong accusation to make.

Mask

Trust is earned, not granted. The club's statement said building a successful team with that "set-up" was "not feasible." That's corporate speak for 'the manager is the problem.' He was reportedly resistant to advice and kept interfering in squad planning. That’s not a visionary, that’s a liability.

Tom Banks

So you see it as the club protecting its interests against a manager who wouldn't stay in his lane? The reports do paint a picture of a manager at odds with the front office from day one, which is a recipe for disaster in any organization, not just a football club.

Mask

It's the only logical conclusion. You have a proven, title-winning structure and a new manager comes in trying to disrupt it without producing immediate, superior results. The system will reject the foreign body. It was a swift, decisive, and correct business decision. No emotion, just logic.

Tom Banks

The immediate impact is, of course, instability. After the highest high in the club's history, they're now manager-less during an international break. It puts immense pressure on the sporting director Simon Rolfes and CEO Fernando Carro, who brought ten Hag in. Their judgment is now under fire.

Mask

Good. They should be under pressure. They made a bad hire. The impact on Ten Hag is more severe, though. His stock was already down after Manchester United. This public, rapid failure is catastrophic for his brand. He looks stubborn, unadaptable, and now, unemployable at the top level.

Tom Banks

That’s a harsh assessment, but it’s hard to argue with. For the Bundesliga, it turns the defending champions into a bit of a soap opera, which I suppose adds to the drama of the season. It’s a cautionary tale about how quickly things can unravel, even after monumental success.

Tom Banks

Looking to the future, Leverkusen has to move quickly. The club says it remains committed to its goals for the season, but finding the right leader is paramount. They're reportedly in talks with candidates like Xavi and Marco Rose, who have very different styles. It’s a critical decision.

Mask

They need another innovator, not a caretaker. Someone who can leverage the existing assets without the ego. The strategy should be to find a leader who respects the foundation Alonso built but has the vision to evolve it. This isn't a crisis; it's an opportunity to upgrade.

Tom Banks

That's the end of today's discussion. It's a story of ambition, conflict, and a shockingly abrupt ending. Thank you for listening to Goose Pod.

Mask

See you tomorrow.

## Erik ten Hag Sacked by Bayer Leverkusen After Just 63 Days **News Title:** ‘Complete surprise’: Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag fired after just 3 games in charge of German club | CNN **Report Provider:** CNN **Author:** Ben Church **Published At:** 2025-09-02 10:31:39 ### Summary of Key Information: Erik ten Hag, the former Manchester United manager, has been sacked by German club Bayer Leverkusen after a remarkably short tenure of **63 days**. This decision comes after only **two league games** in charge, making him the first manager in Bundesliga history to be dismissed after such a brief period following a summer appointment. **Main Findings and Conclusions:** * **Abrupt Dismissal:** Ten Hag's time at Leverkusen was cut short due to a perceived inability to build a new and successful team with the current setup. * **Lack of Trust and Time:** Ten Hag expressed surprise and regret, stating that the management was unwilling to grant him the necessary time and trust for the relationship to be based on mutual trust. * **Turbulent Stint:** His brief spell was marked by disagreements with the hierarchy over transfer policy and signs of disharmony within the team. **Key Statistics and Metrics:** * **Tenure:** 63 days * **League Games Managed:** 2 * **League Performance:** 1 point from 2 league matches. * **DFB-Pokal Performance:** A 4-0 win against a fourth-division team in the first game of the season. **Context and Background:** * Ten Hag was brought in to rebuild Leverkusen following the departure of club legend Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. * The club had a highly successful 2023-24 season, winning its first-ever Bundesliga title and its second German Cup. * However, several key players who contributed to that success have since departed, including Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Granit Xhaka. **Notable Risks or Concerns:** * **Team Commitment:** Club captain Robert Andrich questioned his teammates' commitment after a 3-3 draw against Werder Bremen. * **Player Disagreements:** Ten Hag was reportedly frustrated by players clashing on the pitch over who would take a penalty. * **Pressure on the Team:** The decision is expected to place significant pressure on the team to respond and improve. **Critical Statements:** * **Erik ten Hag:** "The decision by Bayer Leverkusen’s management this morning to put me on a leave of absence came as a complete surprise. To part ways with a coach after just two league matches is unprecedented. I started this job with full conviction and energy, but unfortunately the management was not willing to grant me the time and trust I needed, which I deeply regret. I feel this was never a relationship based on mutual trust." * **Simon Rolfes (Leverkusen's Managing Director):** "This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step. However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this setup is not feasible. We firmly believe in the quality of our team and will now do everything we can to take the next steps in our development with a new setup." * **Fernando Carro (Leverkusen CEO):** "A parting of ways at this early stage of the season is painful, but we felt it was necessary. We remain committed to achieving our goals for the season – and to do that, we need the best possible conditions at all levels and across the entire first team. Now it’s a matter of fully implementing and utilising these conditions again." **Future Outlook:** Bayer Leverkusen has not yet announced a replacement for Erik ten Hag. The club remains committed to achieving its season goals and is focused on implementing conditions for future success with a new managerial setup.

‘Complete surprise’: Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag fired after just 3 games in charge of German club | CNN

Read original at CNN →

Soccer is well-known for being a cut-throat industry but even Erik ten Hag couldn’t have imagined his new job would be over so soon. The Dutch manager was sacked by German side Bayer Leverkusen on Monday after just 63 days and two league games in charge. Although short, his time at the Bundesliga club was certainly turbulent.

He butted heads with Leverkusen’s hierarchy over transfer policy and there were signs of disharmony within the team during his spell. “The decision by Bayer Leverkusen’s management this morning to put me on a leave of absence came as a complete surprise. To part ways with a coach after just two league matches is unprecedented,” ten Hag said in a statement released by his agency, per the Associated Press.

“I started this job with full conviction and energy, but unfortunately the management was not willing to grant me the time and trust I needed, which I deeply regret. I feel this was never a relationship based on mutual trust.” It wasn’t always going to be a tough job for ten Hag. The 55-year-old was coming off the back of a bruising stint as Manchester United manager and was tasked with rebuilding Leverkusen following the departure of former boss and club legend Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.

Additionally, many of the club’s top stars – who helped the club win its first ever Bundesliga and second ever German Cup in the 2023-24 season – have left recently, including key players such as Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Granit Xhaka. And while the first game of the season ended with a 4-0 win against a fourth-division team in the DFB-Pokal, Leverkusen picked up just one point in its two league matches.

Club captain Robert Andrich questioned his teammates’ commitment after a 3-3 draw against Werder Bremen on Saturday, while ten Hag fumed at his players for clashing on the pitch while debating who would take a penalty. It was always going to be an uphill battle, but few thought it would be over so soon.

“This decision was not an easy one for us,” Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s managing director, said in a statement. “Nobody wanted to take this step. However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this setup is not feasible. We firmly believe in the quality of our team and will now do everything we can to take the next steps in our development with a new setup.

” According to Opta, ten Hag is the first manager in Bundesliga history to lose his job after two league games having taken over in the summer. It’s a decision that will pile huge pressure on the team to respond and the club is yet to announce who will take over the managerial role. “A parting of ways at this early stage of the season is painful, but we felt it was necessary,” Leverkseun CEO Fernando Carro said in a statement.

“We remain committed to achieving our goals for the season – and to do that, we need the best possible conditions at all levels and across the entire first team. “Now it’s a matter of fully implementing and utilising these conditions again.”