The Dutchman was hamstrung by a raft of big departures, but his lack of passion and stubbornness rubbed his new employers up the wrong way
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was first up on the bonfire of former Manchester United coaches that took place in the space of four days around the weekend, sacked by Besiktas just minutes after they failed to qualify for this season's Conference League. Less than 24 hours later, his United predecessor, Jose Mourinho, was fired by Fenerbahce as they came to terms with missing out on reaching the Champions League league phase.
Neither decision came as a huge surprises given the coaches had both presided over disastrous eliminations from European football, while Mourinho had caused chaos and controversy throughout his 12 months in Istanbul. But when Erik ten Hag became the third former Red Devils coach to lose his job in a matter of days, dismissed by Bayer Leverkusen on Monday after just three matches in charge, there was widespread surprise. Well, everywhere except from within Germany.
The writing had been on the wall for some time for Ten Hag, who accepted the most poisonous of chalices by succeeding Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen's greatest-ever coach, in the same summer that the club also parted with a number of the players who had helped the charismatic Basque coach make history two seasons ago by winning the club's first Bundesliga title as part of an unbeaten domestic double.
GettyLosing too many leaders
Talisman Florian Wirtz and influential right-back Jeremie Frimpong headed to Liverpool while towering centre-back Jonathan Tah left for Bayern Munich. Ten Hag did, though, believe he was going to keep midfield lynchpin Granit Xhaka.
"This club has lost three important players and we won’t lose more," he said in late July. "Granit is a leader. He signed here for five years and still has three to go. He’s too important for us to sell him."
The club hierarchy were not pleased to hear the manager discuss a transfer so publicly, and just a week later they completely undermined Ten Hag by selling Xhaka to Sunderland. Leverkusen did reinvest the money they earned, spending €198 million (£172m/$230m) of the €230m they had received in transfer fees on 17 new players.
Lucas Vazquez, Claudio Echeverri, Loic Bade and Jarrell Quansah were among the new recruits alongside Ten Hag's customary signings from the Eredivisie in Ernest Poku and Malik Tillman, but the coach wanted more say in transfer policy and pushed to sign Quinten Timber – brother of Arsenal's Jurrien – from Feyenoord. Leverkusen, however, did not meet the Dutch side's €20m valuation and refused to sell another player to make way for him.
AdvertisementgettyStubborn and lacking passion
German magazine described Ten Hag as "stubborn" and reported that he lost credibility with the club's hierarchy by discussing his desired transfers publicly. Dutch newspaper , meanwhile, said the coach struggled to communicate with his players, staff, and board members, and lacked the outward enthusiasm that characterises many German managers.
That should come as no surprise to anyone who paid attention to Ten Hag's media appearances during his spell in charge of United. The manager regularly struggled to get his point across in press conferences and on several occasions the club's staff had to clarify what he had meant to journalists.
A lack of enthusiasm was also a problem at Old Trafford, as his former assistant coach Benni McCarthy explained last year: "In modern football, I believe that players want to see a bit more passion in their coach. They need to feel that the coach is with them and willing to fight alongside them. Tactically, I feel that Erik is at the top. He lacks a bit of that fire, that passion."
Ten Hag was arguably doomed from the start at Leverkusen as he was not the first choice to take over. That was Cesc Fabregas, who, like Alonso, had star appeal and was at the start of an exciting coaching career. But Como would not let their man go lightly and so Ten Hag, who had been a free agent since being sacked by United the previous October, got the nod.
AFP'Don't really give a sh*t'
The Dutchman had been given the chance to return to Ajax, where he made his name, but decided he wanted a clean break from the past and to continue managing in Europe’s top five leagues. However, an early sign that Ten Hag was not gelling well with his Leverkusen players came at the start of his tenure, when his side were thrashed 5-1 by Flamengo's Under-20 side in their first pre-season game in Brazil.
Ten Hag's reaction to such a shocking scoreline raised eyebrows at the club: "The result looks bad, but I don't really give a sh*t about pre-season results." His team won three of their next four friendlies, as well as their DFB-Pokal first-round clash with SG Sonnenhof Grossaspach, but their Bundesliga campaign got off to a rotten start when Leverkusen lost 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim, who had finished 15th in the previous season.
The image of a team in disarray that had gathered over the summer was further confirmed by new signing Mark Flekken, who, in a typically Dutch way, ripped into his new team-mates. "Too many mistakes, simple errors," he said, also claiming his team were "playing more against ourselves than our opponents."
AFPOnly concerned with themselves
The idea that this was a team of individuals with no unifying force was further underlined in the following game against Werder Bremen, when Patrick Schick argued with Exequiel Palacios over who should take a penalty. Schick won the argument and scored to make it 3-1 against 10-man Werder Bremen, but Leverkusen chucked away their advantage to draw 3-3.
Captain Robert Andrich could not contain his fury when he spoke after the game: "We can’t stand around on the pitch and play rock-paper-scissors for two minutes. We have too many people who are preoccupied with other things, too many who are only concerned with themselves."
Ten Hag was also angry, calling the dispute between Schick and Palacios "unacceptable" before telling his players they should be "embarrassed" and had played "like boys, not like men".
That his team got off to a bad start was not the biggest surprise. After all, Ten Hag lost his first two games as United boss to Brighton and Brentford by an aggregate scoreline of 6-1, only to remain in charge for another two years and deliver two trophies. Leverkusen's directors, by contrast, could not stand the situation any longer.
"We simply had the feeling that things were going in the wrong direction,” managing director Simon Rolfes said following Ten Hag's sacking. "Before we arrive at that wrong destination, we decided to make the decision now."
Leverkusen will never know whether or not Ten Hag could have turned it around, with their call having left the Dutchman understandably furious with the "unprecedented" decision.
"I feel this was never a relationship based on mutual trust," he said. "Throughout my career, every season I have been able to see through to the end as a coach has brought success. Clubs that placed their trust in me have been rewarded with success."
