Chosen as the worst Leverkusen boss ever

Erik ten Hag lasted only two rounds in Leverkusen. Barely two months in total, from his promotion as the new head coach until his dismissal. The question on everyone’s lips was: what did he do so wrong to be kicked off the bench so abruptly, like some stray who sat there by mistake!? The newspaper Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger revealed the entire genesis of the problem. According to them, it began already during preparations in Brazil. At that time, Leverkusen’s management, used to the passionate and intense working style of Xabi Alonso, were shocked by how lackluster Ten Hag’s training sessions and especially his relationship with the players seemed — cold and without emotion.

Master of dismissals – Ten Hag fired after 3 games

“Whether on the pitch, in internal meetings, or in public appearances, wherever Ten Hag showed up, Leverkusen employees were left shaking their heads in disbelief” the Cologne daily reports. The feeling of doubt and mistrust didn’t change in the following weeks; on the contrary, the gap only grew.

“Ten Hag is described as a man who resists any advice, constantly trying to interfere in the squad planning process, despite the original agreement to the contrary. He kept insisting on proposing players from ‘his’ agency SEG,” the Germans wrote.

Dreadful five days for ex-United managers: Ole + Mou + Erik = 3 sacks

The Granit Xhaka ‘affair’ didn’t help either. The Swiss midfielder had reportedly struck an agreement with the club that he would be allowed to leave in July, something the new boss very publicly vetoed even thou he was informed about Xhaka’s departure. The final humiliation was the discussion among the club's long-standing employees about who the worst coach of the past 15 or 20 years was – with Ten Hag in a top ranking for the overall package, as per Bild. In the end, Ten Hag never bonded with the team, and the club’s leaders were left shocked after the coach didn’t even address the squad following the match against Hoffenheim (1–2). Even some players were surprised at how flat and indifferent it all felt. Bayer have paid for their mistake dearly. The Dutch coach will receive just under five million euros after the quick termination. Including his salary for the two months, this comes to around six million euros for 60 days of service (July 1–August 31). That's about 100,000 euros per day—and one point.