Berlin (AFP) - Bayer Leverkusen sacked manager Erik ten Hag on Monday after just two Bundesliga matches in charge and said letting the coach stay on would have been “an even bigger mistake”.

Fired by Manchester United last October, Ten Hag signed a contract until 2027 in May, taking over as the successor to Xabi Alonso, who moved to Real Madrid.

But the Dutchman had to contend with the sale of a handful of the Leverkusen stars who won the Bundesliga title in 2024 and his new team have struggled in the first few games of the new season.

“This decision was not easy for us. Nobody wanted to take this step,” sporting director Simon Rolfes said in a statement.

“The past few weeks have shown that the steps to build a new and successful team have not been effective,” Rolfes said.

Club CEO Fernando Carro said the decision was “painful, but necessary”.

Speaking with German media on Monday, Rolfes said the team lacked “clarity and direction” under Ten Hag and the decision was made “independent of the results” of Leverkusen’s early matches.

Rolfes admitted to a mistake in hiring Ten Hag, telling reporters: “When you bear responsibility, you also make bad decisions. But if you believe it’s not working, it’s an even bigger mistake to let it continue.”

The sporting director said Ten Hag was “surprised and disappointed” with the news.

The 55-year-old Dutchman now has the unwanted record of breaking the previous mark for a coach of five matches before dismissal.

Named United manager in July 2022, Ten Hag won the FA and League Cups but was let go after a run of just one win in eight matches midway through the 2024-25 season, the club’s worst start to a campaign in the Premier League era.

- Leverkusen rebuild -

Ten Hag took over after the most successful period in Leverkusen’s history and was tasked with overseeing a dramatic rebuild.

Leverkusen won an unbeaten league and cup double in 2023-24, including a first ever Bundesliga title.

They have sold seven core members of the team this summer, including Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong, Odilon Kossounou, Amine Adli and Lukas Hradecky.

An eighth, Piero Hincapie, looks set to move to Arsenal on deadline day.

The club did not name a replacement for Ten Hag on Monday, saying the “training work would be taken over by the assistant coaching staff for the time being”.

Named Leverkusen manager on July 1, Ten Hag’s first match in charge was a 5-1 drubbing by Flamengo’s under-20s team in a friendly in Brazil.

After a 4-0 win over fourth-tier Sonnenhof Grossaspach in their German Cup opener, Leverkusen claimed one point from their first two Bundesliga fixtures.

Leverkusen let a one-goal lead slip to lose 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim and on Saturday conceded two late goals against a 10-man Werder Bremen to draw 3-3, having led 2-0 and 3-1.

On Sunday, German outlets Bild and Kicker both reported Ten Hag was facing the sack, despite his short tenure at the club.

Bild reported the coach had “lost credit internally in a very short time” and there was “no personal connection between him and the players”.

Kicker said Ten Hag’s style of “communication, lack of match preparation, in-game coaching and tactical approach” was a “culture shock” and showed “a lack of prospect of success”.

The tabloid reported Ten Hag was left out of discussions on the signing of former Real defender Lucas Vazquez, who joined Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Ten Hag was tasked with bedding in more than a dozen new signings ahead of this season, including several young players.

Three of the four most expensive signings in the club’s history – Malik Tilmann, Jarell Quansah, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Ezequiel Fernandez – all arrived this summer, for a combined cost of 132 million euros ($156 million) plus bonuses.

The Dutchman is the third former United coach to be fired this week after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Besiktas and Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce.