Erik Ten Hag now has the chance to prove the critics wrong about their perception of his football tactics, though the bundesliga is not as strong as the premier League but there's still the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund whom will always be there to contend with bayer Leverkusen, perhaps he might build a strong team that would probably replicate all the achievements of Xabi Alonso, because he cannot afford to fail in his new assignment.
The big question is what would be considered a success for Ten Hag? Would defending their runner-up position or finishing 3rd or 4th (so still in Champions League places) be satisfying, or is Leverkusen seriously aiming to dethrone Bayern again? If the latter, a good manager might not be enough. The club owners must be willing to invest in the squad just like Bayern is.
Right now, we all know that there's a wide acceptance of Bayern being the hegemon, while all other clubs are very much interested in trading their biggest talents for big money rather than trying to retain them.
But yeah, I'm also curious about how the team will perform under Ten Hag's leadership, I hope he will set them up more offensively than Man United under his rule.
For me, this would be more like mediocrity for a coach like Ten Hag, though he didn't live up to expectations at Manchester United but that doesn't mean he shouldn't aim higher at Leverkusen, he can win the title, contend for the UCL or the German cup, that's what is expected of him and nothing else, as a matter of fact, if he fails to clinch a domestic title, he might be asked to leave, because Leverkusen is probably the second biggest outfit in Germany after Bayern Munich.
Becoming the new manager of a team the manager is expected to perform better than the former manager so Ten Hag will be expecting to outperform Xabi Alonso by winning the champions League, the league title and league cup.
Last season Leverkusen couldn't maintain their decent performance and they didn't give much competition against Bayern Munich Ten Hag needs to fix things so that his team can compete with Bayern Munich next season.