Ten Hag urges ´not ready´ Leverkusen players to take responsibility

Erik ten Hag has claimed Bayer Leverkusen are simply not ready for the 2025-26 season, as he urged his players to take responsibility for their performances.

Ten Hag’s underwhelming start in charge of Leverkusen continued on Saturday, as his side threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at Werder Bremen.

Patrik Schick’s penalty shortly after the hour restored a two-goal cushion for Leverkusen, whose lead had been halved by Romano Schmid’s spot-kick on the stroke of half-time.

Yet goals from Isaac Schmidt and Karim Coulibaly saw Werder battle back in the final stages, leaving Leverkusen with just one point from their opening two Bundesliga games.

And former Manchester United boss Ten Hag put his team’s issues down to fitness.

“The players aren’t ready,” he told Sky Sports DE.

“We have a new team and some of the players aren’t at all fit enough to play. The team didn’t function at all during the final stage of the game.

1 – At 18 years and 99 days, Karim Coulibaly is Werder Bremen’s youngest goalscorer in the Bundesliga. Furthermore, the Green-Whites came back from a two-goal deficit in the top flight for the first time while being one man down. Morale. pic.twitter.com/5TjwJ1Nu0D

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) August 30, 2025

“That’s just the way it is. They need to bring more intensity and get fitter in order to meet my standards.

“After the international break, we face real competition and must perform as a team.

“That begins with taking responsibility and delivering individual performances. And they have to demonstrate to me that they want to work together.”

Leverkusen take on high-flying Eintracht Frankfurt after the international break, before facing Copenhagen in their first Champions League match.