Florian Wirtz lifts lid on private Liverpool squad talks during 'difficult' period
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In a shocking 12-match run Liverpool lost nine times but, with Florian Wirtz coming to the fire, they have tasted defeat just three times in the following 23 gamesFlorian Wirtz has opened up on the importance of the private meetings held by the Liverpool squad that helped put the season on stable ground.The Reds lost nine games in 12 between the end of September and November before going on a run that has seen them beaten just three times in the last 23 matches across all competitions.That sequence leaves Arne Slot's side in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, sixth in the Premier League and in the last 16 of the Champions League, which gets underway when they travel to face Galatasaray away on Tuesday night for the first leg.Speaking on the Reds' Roundtable show on the club's official channels, Wirtz, alongside Jeremie Frimpong and Giorgi Mamardashvili, explained how those in-house conversations at the time helped improve performances and results.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page"There were a few meetings in the changing room with only us players," Wirtz says.
"We had a difficult start and this club and this team was not used to this, that we don't win almost every game, you know?"And I think it was important to believe as a group, that we are making process and it needs to go better."Us, as a team, we want to give the fans something, but we are not in the position to say: 'We are winning this or that'. So we focus on the games, but we know that there's still something to play for."Most what I did was just to make myself strong in the head to bring myself to the best position to bring it on the pitch and that helped also.
It was really good to start scoring and from then on it was easier to find the goal more."I can't even explain why because in football I think it's a lot of momentum and when you score one time, then you can use it for yourself you know."On the decision to move to Merseyside in June after the Reds struck a £116m agreement with Bayer Leverkusen, the Germany playmaker adds: "For me it took a little bit longer [to decide] really because [I was] in my area with all my family and friends, so it was not an easy step."But Liverpool was the first club who approached me to speak and tried to convince me to join the club, so it [showed] 100% commitment and it felt 100% right."I have to say something about that because [the interest from Liverpool] started during the season, we were still in Leverkusen and from the day I had interest from Liverpool, I found out they were also interested in Jeremie."So we were sitting next to each other in the changing room and every day we spoke to each other, we were sitting next to each other and speaking every day how it is going and it can be so cool if we can come here together."For me, it was easy we had a lot of new players and I was with Giorgi for the first two weeks in the same hotel, so we would drive to training together."Of course, Jeremie, because I knew him from before but also the other players, they always tried to make me feel good."