The conundrum surrounding Erik ten Hag’s first season in charge of Bayer Leverkusen
From pessimism within the Leverkusen ranks to an overhaul of the playing squad, it is difficult to define what success may look like as ten Hag replaces Xabi Alonso.
Erik ten Hag takes the reins of Bayer Leverkusen after Alonso left the club to join Real Madrid at the end of last season.
Ten Hag has been out of work since he was sacked by Manchester United in October 2024, after winning four of thirteen Premier League matches.
His reputation in Germany is high after his extremely successful spell in charge of Ajax in the Netherlands, during which a number of excellent young players took great strides in their development.
He also managed to win two trophies during his turbulent spell in charge of the Red Devils, in an extremely difficult environment.
Despite his past, his credentials took a hit, and if he did not already have a lot to prove, ten Hag joined Leverkusen in the most successful era of the club.
After the unparalleled success of his predecessor and a number of factors beyond his control, the future of Leverkusen seems to be a mystery.
Xabi Alonso, king of hearts
Alonso left Leverkusen after two and a half seasons, in which he won the Bundesliga by going invincible, which no one has done before. He also won the DFB-Pokal and reached the Europa League final, in what was a remarkable treble-winning campaign.
Last season, Leverkusen ‘dropped off’, but still managed to reach the semi-final of the Pokal, the Round of 16 of the Champions League, and finish second in the Bundesliga.
Therefore, replicating that level of success is going to be nigh-on impossible. Alonso did not win solely on the pitch however, he won the hearts of the Leverkusen fans.
A ‘King Xabi’ banner was spotted in the BayArena crowd following Leverkusen’s title win, in addition to unofficially naming the street that runs parallel to the stadium “Xabi Alonso Allee.’’
The active fan scene on Leverkusen’s Nordkurve, invited Alonso onto the capo’s stand and celebrated their maiden title win, after so many near misses and heartbreak, he delivered.
He could have left after the treble winning season, but committed himself to the club. A decision that was not taken lightly, as high-profile clubs (Real Madrid, Liverpool) had him on their radar.
Trying to blaze new ground in a period of unparalleled success
As alluded to earlier, Bayer Leverkusen had never won the Bundesliga title prior to Alonso’s arrival. The club won the Pokal in 1993, which was their solitary piece of silverware.
Leverkusen fans could be forgiven for thinking the club were in a never-ending cycle of near misses.
In the 01/02 season, Leverkusen became only the second club to finish as runners-up in the Bundesliga, Pokal and Champions League and further silverware seemed to be out of the question.
Alonso turned the ‘Vizekusen’ and ‘Neverkusen’ jibes into a ‘Neverlusen’ badge of honour for fans of Die Werkself to wear with pride.
From the butt of jokes, to breaking new ground. Alonso delivered the club’s maiden Bundesliga title, becoming the first to do so unbeaten. But they went two better, securing the Supercup and their aforementioned second Pokal.
Though league finishes over the last decade or so were never devastatingly bad, the club’s highest-placed finish in recent years was in the 15/16 season, as they finished third.
Erik ten Hag therefore will be afforded the time to adjust to a new league, and new club - which crucially - finds itself in an extraordinary transitional period, the likes of which they have never experienced.
However, the club’s patience only goes so far. Current Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach Gerardo Seoane, predecessor to Alonso, is highly regarded by Leverkusen.
The 22/23 season saw the club finish third, securing qualification for the Champions League. The feat was not to be replicated the next time around.
Five points from eight games spelled the club’s poorest season since 1979 and he was relieved of his duties after a year-and-a-half in charge.
Core chunk of players have moved on, more may follow
Erik ten Hag will likely not have had Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong in his plans following his arrival, as the duo always looked set to depart after the 24/25 season.
The Granit Xhaka transfer was different. Ten Hag expressed his desire to keep the Swiss midfielder amid speculation linking him with moves to Sunderland and Saudi Arabia.
Describing him as ‘’too important’’ to leave, ten Hag referenced that three key players have already left the club (Wirtz and Frimpong to Liverpool, and Jonathan Tah to Bayern Munich), and appeared to rule out another high profile departure.
Xhaka wanted to leave, something that was apparent throughout the transfer window, and Sunderland ultimately met Simon Rolfes’ asking price. Rolfes and ten Hag were clearly planning the upcoming season with him, as one of the leaders of the Alonso era.
Despite the fact that Wirtz, Frimpong, and Tah departures were planned for, the Xhaka departure has undoubtedly thrown a spanner in the mix.
It is clear Leverkusen still have a lot to do in this window, which has now been accentuated with the Swiss midfielder’s departure creating a new problem.
Wirtz, it is not controversial to say, is the biggest loss. One which teams far bigger than Leverkusen would struggle to find solutions for.
Last season, he scored 16 goals and assisted 15 across all competitions. His individual brilliance and ability to transform a game on his own is quite possibly unrivalled. As good as Leverkusen were as a unit, at times their solution was to give the ball to Wirtz and hope he can provide an opening.
On many occasions, he delivered. His departure broke records across the continent, as he became the most expensive signing in British football, and the most expensive departure from the Bundesliga.
Frimpong’s contributions to Leverkusen’s success cannot be understated. His darting runs and electric pace combined with an eye for teammates and confidence to try his luck were a cornerstone of Xabi-ball, with his counterpart Alejandro Grimaldo on the left.
Though his finishing and decision making in the opposing box can still be improved, the Dutch wing-back still scored five times and notched 12 assists last season.
Combined with two members of Leverkusen’s leadership group, Tah and Xhaka, the loss of personnel Leverkusen have sustained this season is simply huge.
Discontent within the dressing room after ‘most important’ player’s exit
For Jonas Hofmann, Alonso’s exit could be his Leverkusen salvation. Hofmann featured heavily in his first full season, but was relegated to a bit-part player last season.
He was determined to stay and fight for his place and with the change of coach, that decision was further cemented.
A similar story surrounds Leverkusen’s talismanic frontman, Patrik Schick, who was so often the hero needed to snatch a late goal.
It would seem Schick never truly ingratiated himself with Alonso, describing sitting on the sideline in a title-defining clash against Bayern as ‘’hard to accept.’’
Schick appears set to stay with Die Werkself, but has not been shy to air his discontent with the departure of Xhaka’s departure.
Despite being the only one to air his concerns publicly, the Swiss’ sudden departure is likely to have disappointed others in the dressing room, though no more than their new head coach.
Speaking recently to Sky Sport DE, Schick described Xhaka as the ‘’most important’’ player for the team.
‘’He was a leader. He was the player with the most experience. And simply very important for the whole team. Many things worked well with him. That, I think, is the biggest loss.’’
Schick spoke on the importance of the rest of the team stepping up in his absence. It would appear that the Xhaka sale has had a knock-on effect across the entire team, both on the pitch and off it.
Leverkusen are a club well-known for their shrewd business and way of operating. But, this season has the possibility of spiralling away from them.
Ten Hag stressed the importance of additional recruits following his side’s 2-1 win over Fortuna Sittard, citing the need for "four or five new players.”
The transfer window does not close until September 1, and Leverkusen will undoubtedly look to the market despite already making a number of new signings.
Reasons for optimism
As referenced above, Leverkusen have not let their departed stars go without replacements. The immensely talented Ibrahim Maza has joined the club from Hertha BSC, after impressing in the 2.Bundesliga last season.
The 19-year-old Maza, born in Berlin, is a twice-capped Algerian international. His five goals and five assists in the league caught the eye, and his signing was announced on May 1.
“Ibrahim Maza is currently one of the most interesting young attacking players,’’ said Leverkusen managing director Rolfes.
‘’He has outstanding technical ability, is good at dribbling and assertive and he also has vision for his teammates who he can brilliantly bring into play.”
His penchant for cutting inside from the left on his stronger right foot and technical prowess will draw obvious comparisons with Wirtz, which could be considered lazy.
But, the similarities are there. If he can bring his dynamism from Hertha to the Farbenstadt, his 12m Euro price tag may turn out to be a steal.
Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah is Tah’s replacement, and has already impressed in pre-season. He, alongside new goalkeeper Mark Flekken (signed from Brentford) kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win against VfL Bochum.
Question marks were raised over the structure of the deal being up to £35m after add-ons and Liverpool also inserted a buy-back clause for a set price.
While generally an expensive transfer for Leverkusen, the potential is there. Quansah may turn out to be a great replacement for Tah, who had a number of shaky moments at the back last season.
The Flekken signing was announced early in the window and looks to be a very smart acquisition. Signed for just €10m, the former Freiburg goalkeeper is ten Hag‘s new number one, while 35-year-old club captain Lukas Hradecky, looks set to join AS Monaco.
Hradecky was generally faultless in the treble-winning campaign, but he and his defence were a lot leakier last season.
Young Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar also struggled to nail down a starting berth, making several costly errors, and has since moved on to PSV Eindhoven.
Leverkusen‘s most interesting signing of the ten Hag era is USMNT and PSV forward Malik Tillman. The club triggered the €35m release clause in his contract which is Leverkusen‘s record transfer fee.
He joined Bayern‘s youth ranks from SpVgg Fürth, and spent time on-loan at Rangers in Scotland, before moving to the Netherlands initially on-loan, which was made permanent.
It’s clear Tillman will be tasked with helping to replace the abundance of lost creativity following Wirtz‘ exit, but Rolfes has also praised his versatility.
Upon the player‘s announcement, he said: “Malik will add something special to our offence. He can play both as an 8 and a 10, and his versatility fits perfectly with the way we play.”
Tillman won two titles back-to-back at PSV, scoring 16 goals and assisting five in 34 Eredivisie matches. Rolfes also praised some “stand-out moments” in the Champions League last campaign.
It’s an exciting bit of business from the club, and a statement signing.
Alongside assembling key puzzle pieces for the first team, Leverkusen have been busy signing young players from around the world.
The aforementioned Maza has been joined by Christian Kofane (19), Farid Alfa-Ruprecht (19), Axel Tape (17), Issa Traoré (18), Tim Oermann (21) and Abdoulaye Faye (21). The two latter of which have been loaned out to Sturm Graz, and FC Lorient respectively.
The recruitment process post-Alonso has an air of ‘back to basics’ following numerous signings that did not traditionally fit the club’s model of developing young players.
Ten Hag has a reputation of doing just that, both due to his spell in charge of Bayern ll, and the emergence of several high-profile young players at Ajax. While Alejandro Garnacho, Hannibal and Kobbie Mainoo were handed debuts at Manchester United.
Jurrien Timber, Ryan Gravenberch, Sergiño Dest, Noa Lang, Mohammed Kudus, Antony, Frenkie De Jong and Matthijs De Ligt all made their debuts under him in Amsterdam. Ten Hag made De Ligt captain at the age of 19.
The Dutch coach will relish the opportunity of a blank slate at a club which, with respect, commands a fraction of the attention compared to the media circus at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag clashed with journalists in England several times and it often looked like he had his back against the wall, as if he needed to continuously prove himself.
At Leverkusen, he will be free to go about his work. Like Alonso before him, the calm environment around the BayArena can only be a good thing for Ten Hag.
Leverkusen open their competitive season in the DFB-Pokal, away to SG Sonnenhof Großaspach on August 15, before beginning their 24/25 Bundesliga campaign at home to TSG Hoffenheim on August 23.