German media have already made their feelings clear on Erik Ten Hag after shock result in his first game

Erik Ten Hag's first game since leaving Manchester United could not have gone any worse - with German media already turning on the new Bayer Leverkusen boss.

Ten Hag departed United last year after a poor start to the 2024/25 season despite winning the FA Cup months earlier. He remained out of work until this summer, when he was announced as the successor to Xabi Alonso - who left Leverkusen to take charge at Real Madrid.

Leverkusen won the Bundesliga two years ago, and finished second behind Bayern Munich last season. However they have lost influential pair Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool and Ten Hag must find a way to replace their talents in his first role since receiving the sack from United.

Erik Ten Hag has been tasked with following Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen. (Image: Getty)

However, Ten Hag's start to life at the BayArena could hardly have gone worse, with a heavy defeat to the under-20 side of Brazilian giants Flamengo. A poor debut from new goalkeeper Mark Flekken saw him replaced before half-time, with Ten Hag's men 4-0 down at the break. Their 70th minute consolation came after a fifth for the young Flamengo side, and Ten Hag's task ahead was made painfully clear.

The Dutchman came out fighting after the game, insisting he does not care about results in friendly games. "The result looks bad, but I don't really care about results in preseason," he said.

A young Bayer Leverkusen side were outplayed in Erik Ten Hag's first match as manager. (Image: Getty).

"We should never lose, even by a large margin, but it was important to me not to lose any players," Ten Hag continued. "It would have been better to play the game later."

However, German media have expressed concern over Leverkusen's chances under Ten Hag, calling the defeat a 'debacle' and 'sub-par'. Bild wrote: "Sure, it was 'just' a test. But the long, subpar performance showed how much work Alonso's successor will have to do."

They did acknowledge Leverkusen's youthful starting XI that was overpowered early on, with more experienced reinforcements coming on for the final half hour, but Bild said the performance before that was 'terrible.'

Ten Hag said he saw positive signs when his more recognised players were introduced, however the crushing defeat is a clear reminder of what he must do to keep his new side in title contention after Alonso's departure.