Erik Ten Hag Fired by Bayer Leverkusen After Disastrous Three-Game Stint

The Unholy Trinity: Three Ex-United Managers Sacked in One Week

Here’s where it gets genuinely bizarre—Ten Hag has become the third former Manchester United manager to get the boot in the span of a week. Ole Gunnar Solskjær got shown the exit at Besiktas, José Mourinho parted ways with Fenerbahce, and now Ten Hag joins this exclusive club of recent managerial failures. It’s like some sort of cursed reunion tour, except nobody bought tickets and the venues keep canceling the shows.

You have to wonder what’s in the water at Old Trafford that creates this domino effect of coaching catastrophes. Maybe it’s the pressure, maybe it’s the expectations, or maybe some managers just aren’t built for life after the Theater of Dreams becomes a nightmare.

What Went Wrong for Ten Hag at Leverkusen?

The million-dollar question isn’t what went wrong—it’s what went right, because that list is considerably shorter. Ten Hag was brought in to maintain Leverkusen’s high standards after their incredible title-winning campaign under Alonso. Instead, he delivered performances that would make a relegation-battling side blush with embarrassment.

The tactical setup never clicked, the players looked lost, and the results spoke for themselves. When you’re dropping points to teams playing with ten men, you’re not just having bad luck—you’re having a fundamental breakdown in coaching philosophy. The German football machine doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and Ten Hag’s brief tenure proved that reputation alone won’t keep you employed when results are this poor.

The Aftermath: What’s Next for the Fallen Dutch Manager?

Ten Hag’s rapid-fire dismissal raises serious questions about his future in top-level management. Going from Manchester United to a three-match stint at Leverkusen isn’t exactly the career trajectory anyone dreams of. The man who once guided Ajax to Champions League semifinals now finds himself unemployed after fewer games than most players get to prove themselves in a new position.

The football world moves fast, but this is breakneck speed even by modern standards. Ten Hag’s reputation, already battered by his Manchester United exit, has taken another significant hit. Recovery is possible, but it’s going to require some serious soul-searching and probably a stint at a club with lower expectations and more patience.

The cruel irony is that Ten Hag’s dismissal comes at a time when football is supposedly embracing long-term thinking and giving managers time to implement their vision. But when your vision looks more like a hallucination and your tactics resemble a fever dream, even the most patient clubs will pull the plug.

For now, Ten Hag joins the growing list of managers who discovered that success at one club doesn’t guarantee success anywhere else. Sometimes the magic just isn’t there, and sometimes three matches are more than enough to prove it.