How Erik ten Hag's Bayer Leverkusen tenure fell apart after just three matches - and why the ex-Man Utd manager's demise is a warning to Ruben Amorim

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.

German magazine Kicker described Ten Hag as "stubborn" and reported that he lost credibility with the club's hierarchy by discussing his desired transfers publicly. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, 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.

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."

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."

United were rewarded for not immediately sacking Ten Hag in 2022 as he eventually led them to finish third-placed in the Premier League while beating all of their big rivals at home. He also delivered a first piece of silverware for six years by winning the Carabao Cup. But in the summer of 2024, they showed too much trust in him, keeping him in charge after finishing eighth in the Premier League on the strength of his side's stunning victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

The fact that Ten Hag was hired by Leverkusen indicated that he still had a lot of respect despite what had happened at United, while his time at United was perhaps being seen in a better light due to the fact that things have gotten even worse at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim. But instead of rebuilding his reputation, it has tumbled even further and Ten Hag now holds the unwanted record of being the first manager in Bundesliga history to be sacked after two league matches in charge.

It is difficult to see where he goes next. A return to the Eredivisie, the league where he had the most success and where he preferred to go shopping for players, seems like a natural next move even if it will be a humbling one. He will always be welcomed back at Ajax, where new boss Johnny Heitinga has gotten off to an underwhelming start.

Or perhaps he will take the same route as Mourinho and Solskjaer and end up in Turkey, where there is no shortage of money. He will likely have to wait a long time before returning to an elite club in Europe's top-five leagues, if indeed he ever gets back there. 

Ten Hag's recent travails, as well as those of Mourinho and Solskjaer, should come as a warning to Amorim as he plods on as United coach. Because while the likes of Scott McTominay and Antony have thrived since leaving Old Trafford and become idols at Napoli and Real Betis, respectively, the coaches who have failed at United have never recovered. 

Mourinho has become a pantomime villain and no self-respecting club would want to hire him now; Solskjaer was out of work for four years before his short-lived spell at Besiktas; Ten Hag has made history in Germany for all the wrong reasons. 

The only survivor of the tortuous experience of being United coach after Sir Alex Ferguson is David Moyes, who is working wonders at Everton 11 years after his ill-fated spell as Ferguson's 'Chosen One' at Old Trafford. But the Scot is operating at a different level and has not been considered for a top-six job since he was sacked by United.

The events of the last week should therefore serve as a reminder to Amorim that once you leave United, the only way is down. He better get it right.