Florian Wirtz lifts lid on 'difficult' start at Liverpool and names key influence in turnaround

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SportFootballFlorian WirtzFlorian Wirtz has explained how he managed to get through the difficult early stages after joining Liverpool in a £116million deal from Bayer Leverkusen in the summerFlorian Wirtz has revealed that he spoke frequently with Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann during his difficult early days at Liverpool. The Germany international was criticised for his lack of impact as Liverpool's Premier League title defence quickly fell apart.Slot frequently defended his summer signing, but Wirtz has now explained that chats with Nagelsmann really helped his confidence that things would turn.

"It's sometimes good that things don't always go upwards and that you experience a dip and grow stronger because of it."That's how I see it now as well, it has made me a bit stronger. I had to overcome resistance and adapt, I had to learn to become stronger and hold onto the ball."Wirtz's form has picked up as the season has progressed and he now has six goals and nine assists in 40 appearances across all competitions.

He scored twice and assisted two goals for Germany in their 4-3 win over Switzerland last week and will be a key part of Nagelsmann's side at the World Cup this summer."I had to keep believing in myself that at one point it had to click because I was telling myself 'you did so good in Germany, you can't just forget how to play football like this here'," he told the BBC in January."It was not easy to have the confidence on the pitch, but I think I dealt really good with it. Even when the start wasn't easy, I am so happy I decided like this [to join Liverpool]."He played an hour on Monday night in Germany's 2-1 friendly win over Ghana and will now return to Liverpool.