DUTCHMAN Peter Bosz was appointed head coach of Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday after Heiko Herrlich was sacked even though the Bundesliga side had won four of its last five games.

Bosz, 55, who steered Ajax to the Europa League final in 2017, was dismissed by current league leader Borussia Dortmund last December after just five months.

Leverkusen has given Bosz a contract until June 2020 and he will take charge after the Christmas holiday. The German league resumes Jan. 18.

After beating Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Saturday, Leverkusen is ninth in the Bundesliga table and seven points off the UEFA Champions League (UCL) places.

Leverkusen’s sports director Rudi Voeller justified the decision to fire Herrlich after 17 months because of the “stagnation of the team’s development.”

Under the 47-year-old, Leverkusen finished fifth in Germany’s top flight last season, missing a UCL place on goal difference. “After a series of unsatisfactory performances in the first half of the season, we are in a situation that calls for a change of coach, from our point of view,” said Voeller.

Bosz had been Voeller’s first choice to coach Leverkusen in July 2017, but when the Dutchman opted for Dortmund, Herrlich got the job.

Leverkusen finished top of its Europa League group and will face Russian side Krasnodar in the last 32. (SD-Agencies)