Coaching Bayer Leverkusen to break into the Bundesliga, can Ten Hag "make a comeback"?

The reporter reported coldly More than half a year after a break from Manchester United, Ten Hag is back on the mountain. Nearly a month of rumours came true on 26 May: Ten Hag replaced Marcos Alonso, who made his debut at Real Madrid on the same day, as Bayer Leverkusen's new manager. The Dutch coach signed a two-year contract with the Bundesliga giants and was tasked with making the team championship competitive again.

Ten Hag has been linked with Roma and Borussia Dortmund since sacking Manchester United in October last year, but in February he publicly stated that he would not return this season and would only restart his coaching career this summer. As early as the end of April, after Alonso's departure was confirmed, Ten Hag was already on Leverkusen's list of managers. At that time, the Dutch coach's biggest rival was Cescie Como coach Cesc Fabregas, and it was not until the latter explicitly refused the invitation that Ten Hag became the first choice for the new Bayer Leverkusen manager.

For Ten Hag personally, Bayer Leverkusen seems to be a more challenging option than Ajax – after all, after winning the Bundesliga, any coach will live under Alonso's too dazzling aura. However, Ten Hag made it clear at his press conference that his negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen were very deep before the change of manager at Ajax, so his old club was never one of the targets.

Bayer Leverkusen director Rolfes said at the debut meeting: Ten Hag was chosen not only because of his experience in coaching top giants Manchester United to win trophies, but more importantly, his familiarity with German football. Ten Hag followed Pep Guardiola to Bayern Munich in 2013 and coached Bayern's reserve squad for two seasons and is fluent in German. Ten Hag's philosophy of football is heavily influenced by Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal and Charles Michels, all of whom have coached in the Bundesliga, and Michels is the first Dutch coach in Leverkusen's history.

Bayer Leverkusen will be able to leave the likes of Frimpong, Wirtz, Jonatan Tower, Grimaldo and Palacios after Alonso took up the post of Real Madrid this summer. Veterans Xhaka, Hradecki and Hoffman will all be gradually withdrawn, and the team faces a complete rebuild. In terms of rebuilding the team, Ten Hag has a knack for finding new players to complete his metabolism, having managed Eredivisie underdogs Utrecht in 2015/16 and reaching the Dutch Cup final in his first season. In the 2018/19 season, in his first full season at Ajax, he reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and won the Eredivisie double. Ten Hag, who is known for his attention to tactical detail and discipline, is the right fit for Bayer Leverkusen as they enter a rebuilding period.

Last summer, Bayer Leverkusen's hierarchy chose to raise the team's ceiling rather than the ceiling, resulting in a failed title defense. Bayer Leverkusen will receive hundreds of millions of euros from the sale of players this summer, which will create enough investment conditions for Ten Hag to bring in new signings in batches and greatly improve the strength of the team. Bayer Leverkusen need to rebuild in full swing and challenge Bayern once again for the title. The appointment of Ten Hag, who once coached top club Manchester United, shows the ambitions of Bayer Leverkusen's management.

Overall, though, the Dutch coach had not been successful in the Bundesliga before. The likes of Michels, Alihan, Advocaat, Van Marwijk and Joel have all failed, with only Louis van Gaal winning the Bundesliga once (2009/10). The strongest presence is Stevens, who has coached 6 Bundesliga teams including Schalke 04, Cologne, Hamburg and Stuttgart, with a span of 24 years, but his achievements are only 1 UEFA Cup (Schalke 04, 1996/97 season) and 3 German Cup titles. There have been very few Dutch coaches in the Bundesliga in the last 10 years, the most recent being Van Bommel who coached Wolfsburg in the summer of 2021. But he only lasted for more than 3 months, and the winning rate was only 30%, and he was embarrassed to leave the class.

Bayer Leverkusen had only two Dutch coaches in their history, and they were unsuccessful. In the summer of 1988, Michels, the 60-year-old founder of Dutch "all-attacking and all-defending" football, took office. Lao Shuai just led the Dutch team led by the "Three Musketeers" to win the European Cup, but only 10 wins, 11 draws and 10 losses in 31 games in the pharmaceutical factory, and left in March 1989, ending his club coaching career at the same time.

The second Dutch coach is also from Ajax and is as bald as Ten Hag – Bosch brought Onana, De Ligt, De Jong and Donny van de Beek to the Europa League final in the summer of 2017, but lost to Jose Mourinho's Manchester United. Bose was then poached by Borussia Dortmund, who fired Tuchel, for a record €5 million release fee in the Bundesliga, and was sacked in December of that year. He was in charge of Bayer Leverkusen at the end of 2018 and was sacked again in April 2021 after the team were seven points off the Champions League places. Ironically, Bosg, who returned to the Eredivisie, led PSV Eindhoven to chase 10 points in the final five rounds, reversing Ajax to successfully defend the title.

Will the Dutch coach succeed again in the Bundesliga after Louis van Gaal in 16 years? Ten Hag's task is not an easy one.