
Erik ten Hag will be supported by a new group of coaching staff. Newcomers on Monday will include ten Hag's Dutch fellow countrymen and assistant coaches Andries Ulderink and Rogier Meijer. They will be joined by Miguel Angel Campos Vasquez as head of performance and fitness coach Alessandro Schoenmaker.
55-year-old former assistant coach Ulderink took over as temporary head coach of top-flight Royal Antwerp FC on 4 March 2025. His contract with the Belgian club ran out a week ago on 30 June. Previously he was assistant coach at Rangers and Twente Enschede. Ulderink also worked as head coach at Ajax Cape Town (South Africa) and at the Dutch second division club De Graafschap.
Rogier Meijer most recently worked in the Dutch Eredivisie at NEC Nijmegen. The 43-year-old was assistant coach there in 2019 before taking charge of the team a year later and in his first season in charge he led them to promotion to the top-flight. NEC reached the final of the KNVB Cup in 2024 and finished eighth in the league in 2024/25. Meijer was the Nijmegen coach for 194 games.
Miguel Angel Campos Vasquez worked as a fitness coach at the Spanish clubs UD Levante, FC Granada, UD Almeria and FC Cadiz. He also looked after players in England at Watford and the 46-year-old Spaniard has worked for the Algerian FA. Most recently he was responsible for the fitness of Spain youth teams up to the level of the U21s.
Alessandro Schoenmaker has Brazilian heritage and he worked alongside ten Hag at Ajax. 45-year-old Schoenmaker has a wide range of experience in top level football. Anderlecht, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United and Inter Milan are some of his former clubs. In 2010 Schoenmaker worked in the Bundesliga as fitness coach at VfL Wolfsburg.
The Bayer 04 coaching staff also includes established fitness coaches Markus Müller and Jonas Rath. Erik ten Hag’s inner circle will include Marcel Daum as analysis assistant coach, analyst Simon Lackmann, head of sports science Dr. Malte Krüger and sports scientist Prisca Volmary.

From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
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Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
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A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have extended their winning run with a fifth consecutive victory on Matchday 5 of the DFB Youth League’s preliminary round. Coach Patrick Greveraars’ side secured a 3–2 (2–1) win in their match against second-placed FC Viktoria Köln, with Burak Kir and Nebe Domnic scoring for the hosts in the first half before captain Ben Hawighorst found the net after the break.
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