Leverkusen's new coach Ten Hag says he doesn't care about the results of the pre-season games
2025-07-20 04:03
Bayer Leverkusen lost 1-5 to Flamengo U20 in a friendly match, but new coach Ten Hag said he did not care about the result of the pre-season.
In the match against Flamengo U20, Leverkusen conceded four goals in a row in the first half. In the second half, they relied on Culbreth to score, but eventually lost to Flamengo U20 1-5.
With Xabi Alonso becoming the head coach of Real Madrid, Dutch coach Ten Hag, who once coached Manchester United, was appointed as the new head coach of Leverkusen in May.
When talking about the result against Flamengo U20, Ten Hag said, "This result is really ugly, but to be honest, I really don't care about the results of the pre-season games. We certainly can't lose, let alone lose so badly. But for me, it's more important that no player is injured, and it would be better if the game could be arranged later."
"Playing in Leverkusen, even young players will face very high expectations, but we must not be too demanding of them."
Leverkusen goalkeeper Hradecki said, "I originally thought that the opponent would arrange a mixed lineup like us, but this game is undoubtedly a good exercise for young players. It is a valuable experience to play against high-level opponents."
"No wonder there are so many talented players here who keep coming to Europe. They impressed us a lot and this was a well-deserved win for them."
In addition, Jonas Hoffmann said, "We obviously still have a lot of room for improvement. A score of 5-1 is really bad. We conceded goals too easily. Even if it is just a friendly match, the goal of the game is still to win, but we gave the advantage to our opponents too early."
"The conditions of the match are a factor, but I think we have to demand more from ourselves. It's just the beginning and we haven't got into the rhythm yet, but we are gradually improving on the basics in training."
Jonas Hoffmann also added, "There are a lot of young players on the field, and we need to adapt better to the style of the new coach."
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