From the most dominant master of recent years to the crisis club: the hype around Bayer Leverkusen is finally over, the lightning-out of coach Erik Ten HAG symbolizes the problems of the factory association. How much to blame for the current misery was the Dutch?
On Monday, a strange meme on the net was circulating. You can see three ex-coaches from Manchester United, all of whom were recently released by their employers within a few days: On August 28, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had to pack his suitcases at Besiktas, a day later it was also in Istanbul for José Mourinho end station, Fenerbahce separated after the other out in the Champions League qualification from the eccentric Portuguese.
The third coach with Red Devil’s past, whose term of office came to an abrupt end, was Erik Ten Hag. Exactly two Bundesliga games were enough for Bayer Leverkusen to put the 55-year-old at the door.
A historical process in Germany’s highest division: So far, no other club has released a trainer that had only been hired in summer. Ten HAG replaced Helmut Senekowitsch (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Heinz Elzner (1. FC Nürnberg), each of whom were in office.
How could the situation around the experienced football teacher, who had come to the Rhineland as the successor to Masterheld Xabi Alonso, so much?
Bayer Leverkusen admits “wrong decision”
“It was not a short -circuit reaction,” Bayer’s sports director Simon Rolfes justified the decision: “We had the feeling that it was not in the right direction. Before we get out of the wrong goal, we decided for an early stage. If you recognize things, you have to act. We did that.”
Previously, the completely converted team was tamed by the first competitive games. After a moderate appearance in the DFB Cup at the regional league team SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (4-0), the opening defeat in the league against TSG Hoffenheim (1: 2) followed. The previous low was the slump in the away game at Werder Bremen (3: 3) when Leverkusen played a two-goal advantage in the majority.
So the Bayer chiefs confessed to a serious error by the Aus from Ten Hag just 505 days after winning the first championship. “If you take responsibility, you also make wrong decisions,” Rolfes pointed out: “But it would be an even bigger mistake to let it go on.”
Weak communication and arrogance accusation
But what ultimately led to Ten Hags at a rapid pace? According to matching media reports, in addition to the lack of successes, it probably did not fit between him and the factory club.
The repeated public call for further new additions, his communication with the team and above all the game preparation and the speeches should not have been well received within the club, the “kicker” even assumed “arrogance”.
How confused the team recently acted against decimated and injury -plagued Bremer and passed out the victory, reinforced the already growing doubts in the area. He had supposedly lost the cabin for a long time.
XXL break as a mortgage
The truth is of course that the obligation of Ten Hags was not a good star right from the start. The Dutchman was not the desired solution, Bayer wanted CESC Fàbregas, but he canceled. In addition, there was the XXL break with exits from columns such as Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Granit Xhaka, Jeremie Frimpong, Lukas Hradecky and Piero Hincapié.
Ten HAG had to compensate for the departures within a very short time and with a number of new additions, of which hardly anyone had Bundesliga experience, form a unit. In this difficult phase, there were quickly discrepancies with the superiors and the professionals.
Erik Ten Hag sneaks off the pitch after the 3: 3 in Bremen
The reaction of the chief head of the line therefore also fit into his demeanor. This was “completely surprising” for him, Ten Hag clarified in a statement – and shot back sharply. He spoke of an “unprecedented” process. He had the feeling that “this was never a relationship that was based on mutual trust”.
Patrick Helmes, ex-scorer of the Werkelf, recognizes in an exclusive conversation with RTL/NTV and sport.de Defaults on both sides. “As a trainer, you need a certain adaptability. If this property is not given, the quick separation is logical,” analyzed the former international. At the same time, Ten HAG also had to manage a huge mortgage in view of the mega break.
Video: Ten-Hag successor: Helmes has Spaniard in mind
Now the search for successors is running at Bayer – and the time is pressing: After the international break, Leverkusen will meet the perfectly started Eintracht Frankfurt on September 12th.