Erik ten Hag was in charge of Bayer Leverkusen for a matter of weeks and two Bundesliga games before being sacked with his transfer demands among the reasons for his early exit
Erik ten Hag’s demand for more say in the club’s transfer policy was among the reasons his Bayer Leverkusen stay lasted just two Bundesliga games before he was given his marching orders.
The Dutchman was aiming to restore his reputation in his first job since his Manchester United sacking, but his stay at the BayArena has proven to be an exceptionally short one. The 3-3 draw at Werder Bremen at the weekend, when Leverkusen had led 3-1, was his final game at the helm.
Ten Hag arrived to replace Xabi Alonso, who delivered the club’s first German title, but he saw a number of his leading lights leave for pastures new. Telegraaf reports that he wanted greater control over what the club were doing with their recruitment and retention.
He saw the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Jonathan Tah leave Leverkusen soon after his arrival, but was very vocal in his desire to keep Granit Xhaka, who would later join Premier League new boys Sunderland.
Ten Hag’s communication skills across the board, be it with his players, the board or even the fans were also not selling him to the hierarchy and that was another factor in his exit.
READ MORE: Erik ten Hag showed his true colours with comments to Man Utd fans after he was sackedREAD MORE: Erik ten Hag releases furious statement after being sacked after just TWO games in charge
The ex-Ajax boss has been unable to play the kind of football that he did whilst at the Amsterdam club and the Leverkusen players were not convinced with his methods. The BBC reports that he gave very uninspiring team talks before matches and prior the season opener, which they lost to Hoffenheim, he didn’t even give a pre-match talk.
Ten Hag also swept aside a humiliating 5-1 pre-season loss at the hands of Flamengo’s U-20 side. The result was far from expected but the ex-United boss claimed that he largely overlooked pre-season results, despite the alarming manner of the defeat.
He said: “The result looks bad, but I don’t really give a s**t about pre-season results. We must never lose, not by that margin too. But it was important to me that I didn’t lose any players. It would have been better to play the game later. »
Ten Hag has had his say following his surprise display and claimed that « parting ways with a coach after just two league matches is unprecedented. » He also underlined his ability to win trophies, as he had done in Manchester, by claiming: « Throughout my career, every season I have been able to see through to the end as a coach has brought success. »
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