Bayer Leverkusen’s sudden sacking of head coach Erik ten Hag after just two matchdays of the Bundesliga season caused an uproar and turned heads – but Toni Kroos fully understands this drastic move by Leverkusen.
“Everything was a mess,” the midfielder, who spent many years at Real Madrid, said in an interview with Camel Live. “I don’t have any inside information, but I’m a big fan of not letting potential mistakes linger or acting on your convictions right away,” Kroos added.
“There’s no doubt that from the outside, the team’s image looks bad,” the 35-year-old former professional explained, but “if you’re evaluating a potential new star, why should I wait until we’ve lost six games before saying something?”
As Leverkusen emphasized, there was no alternative to this radical strategy. “The past few weeks have shown that building a new successful team with the current squad is not effective,” Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s general manager, said in an official statement.
“Of course, you can say: signing him was a wrong decision, and everyone has to ask themselves that – there’s no doubt about that,” said Kroos, a former Leverkusen player, but he added: “However, they have also made many correct decisions in recent years.”
Kroos said: “When you realize a mistake, you have to stick to that realization. It has nothing to do with matchdays. Only two matchdays, so we have to give him time? No!”
