I hope it turns out as you say, and Bayer Leverkusen remains in the title race for a long time. We need such a race in the German league. Watching the German league wasn't fun in the years Bayern Munich won the league single-handedly, but the year Bayer Leverkusen won the championship was truly a joy to watch. I hope they do the same thing with their new manager.
You made interesting points mate. Leverkusen under Xavi Alonso was a terror to Bayern Munich and that made the Germans bundesliga once again interesting to watch as it was no longer a one man show as it was for many seasons. So if Leverkusen has to lose form this season and give a lower performance from what they gave last season then the bundesliga will be back to it's boring one man show league again, and this isn't what we wish to watch this season.
If only Ten Hag can fix the team and buy the necessary players that will boost up the team performance. Currently. Leverkusen is in the hands of a coach that no one can guarantee his success with the club. I hope that their performance doesn't decline too much this new season. Of course, there is no team in Bundesliga that was able to snatch the title from Bayern Munich apart from Leverkusen. I feel that the league will go back to her old days.
Even when Xabi Alonso was with Bayer Leverkusen last season, their performance declined to the extent that if Bayern Munich dropped points, Bayer Leverkusen would not win their match even though they were playing against a weak team, which is one of the things that made Bayern Munich win the German Bundesliga title last season. Next season Bayer Leverkusen's performance will decline more because they will be without their best players, and they have a new coach, whom people doubt will succeed at Bayer Leverkusen.
I don't think Erik Ten Hang has what it takes to do that, Xabi Alonso was indeed a terror to that Bayern Munich team and Erik Ten Hang can't keep to that energy, what we should be hoping for right now is for Bayern Leverkusen to qualify for champions League this season else it will be a big disappointment to the team after their few years of going head to head with Bayern Munich then it all ends in a blink of an eye, like they league was actually becoming interesting to watch since the outbreak of Bayern Leverkusen to the extent they won the league unbeaten, something even the so called Bayern Munich has not done, now we are no longer expecting that great performance from them rather than pray they make it to top four.