Rudi Völler is reluctant to fire coaches, Hans-Joachim Watzke is on vacation and Bernd Neuendorf is in charge of a DFB in need of money: A number of criteria decide Hansi Flick’s fate with the national team – not just sporting ones.
The record that Sami Hyypiä set with Bayer Leverkusen towards the end of 2013 is still the club’s best today: 37 points after the first 15 Bundesliga games were not enough to lead the table because FC Bayern and their new coach, a certain Pep Guardiola, for world domination. Hyypiä, the “stoic with aura”, as the house chronicle describes him precisely, formed his Bayer team into a serious pursuer – up to the 15th matchday.