After his short tenure at Bayer Leverkusen, Erik ten Hag is being dubbed Erik Ten Weeks by some critics.
Ten weeks is an exaggeration – his reign was actually one day short of nine weeks, clocking in at 62 days. He lasted just two Bundesliga games.
He was sacked after Leverkusen threw away a 3-1 lead against 10-man Werder Bremen on Saturday, to draw 3-3.
That disappointing result came one week after Leverkusen lost to Hoffenheim in their season opener at home. Ten Hag only won one competitive game – a German Cup tie against a fourth-division side.
The experienced Dutchman was appointed in late May to replace title-winning coach Xabi Alonso, who departed for Real Madrid, but he did not begin work until 1 July.
At first, Leverkusen seemed to be convinced he could lead a partial rebuild, as the Werkself were losing a number of key players, including Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah.
But while early results this season were disappointing, they were not the sole reason – or even the main reason – for Ten Hag’s dismissal.
Almost from the start, Ten Hag caused irritation with his decisions and behaviour.
For instance, he rescheduled a friendly against Flamengo’s under-20s team during Leverkusen’s training camp in Brazil. The game was played four days earlier than initially planned and Leverkusen lost 5-1 in quite an upset.
Around the same time, Ten Hag took a stance against Granit Xhaka’s departure, saying the midfield leader ought to stay and that Leverkusen had lost enough key players already.
However, Leverkusen had made it known that Xhaka could leave if the right offer came in. He went to Sunderland.
In addition, Ten Hag criticised his players for not being fit enough, even though he and his staff had overseen pre-season.
And he has been accused of lacking the kind of charisma necessary to lead any ambitious top-flight team, but especially a newly assembled group of players. He seemed to struggle with convincing players of his ideas. Sources close to the club suggest he gave lacklustre pre-match talks.
Before the season opener against Hoffenheim, it has been said Ten Hag didn’t even give a pre-match talk.
In contrast, Spaniard Alonso tried his best to improve his German and his leadership skills as a manager during his tenure at Leverkusen.
