Erik ten Hag started his playing career at Twente Enschede near to his birthplace Haaksbergen close to the German border. After brief spells at other Dutch clubs the central defender returned to FC Twente in his mid 20s where he stayed for six years until the end of his career in 2002. After a total of 299 appearances in the Eredivisie he started his career as a coach.
After several years as the youth coach, he became the assistant coach to Fred Rutten with the Twente first team in 2006. After three seasons, Rutten and ten Hag moved on to PSV Eindhoven for three years. His first job as head coach followed in 2012/13 at Go Ahead Eagles where he achieved promotion to the top flight. Ten Hag then took over as coach of the Bayern Munich second team where he won the Regional League in Bavaria and he stayed for two years.
He returned to the Netherlands in 2015 where he was head coach and sporting director at top-flight club FC Utrecht. The record champions Ajax came calling for ten Hag shortly after Christmas in 2017 – that marked the start of an impressive story of success.
After ending his first season without a trophy, he led Ajax to the league and cup double in 2018/19. In the UEFA Champions League there were wins against Juventus and holders Real Madrid before going out at the semi-final stage against Tottenham Hotspur.
Ajax were top of the table in the following season that was not completed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Another double followed in 2020/21 and the third Dutch league title a year later. During his successful time in Amsterdam, ten Hag helped players like Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong to move on to top European clubs. He then took the same route himself.
Ten Hag was appointed head coach at Manchester United for the 2022/23 season. As the successor to Ralf Rangnick, he finished third in his first season in the Premier League and won the Carabao Cup with the English club. That campaign ended with a narrow defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup final but the following season brought success over the local rivals to lift the FA Cup. After winning two trophies the end at Manchester United came after two and a half years at the end of October last year.
The trophy collector is looking to bring his wealth of experience to Bayer 04. Ten Hag is the third Dutch head coach at Leverkusen following on from Rinus Michels (1988 to 1989) and Peter Bosz (2018 to 2021). Sporting managing director Simon Rolfes attributed ten Hag with "impressive success on the pitch" and "technically demanding and dominant football."
Ten Hag himself, who speaks German, was determined and ambitious on signing the contract: "Bayer 04 are one of the best clubs in Germany and also among the top clubs in Europe. I've come to Leverkusen to continue with the ambition shown in recent years. It's an attractive challenge to set up something together in this period of change and develop an ambitious team.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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