Florian Wirtz - The Football Interview

0:00The Football Interview on the Football Daily Podcast.

0:30a little bit better. Let's start with your first memory of playing football. It has to be in my hometown, maybe with my sister on the football pitch. What was the first club called? I say it in German, okay? I'm glad you're gonna say it because I read it and I can't say it. Grün-Weiß is green-white. Okay. Grün-Weiß, Brauweiler. I'm glad I didn't attempt that because I would have looked very silly. So was that like your local team? Yes. Is your dad the chairman of that team? Is that right? Yes, he's the guy for everything. Without him, the club would not work because he has to do everything. Sometimes on a Sunday he do the lines on the pitch.

1:17Wow. He really does everything. So, yeah, I had no other choice. So he was already the chairman and he said, come on, Florian. Yeah, he was also my first coach. Was he hard on you? Yeah, he was more hard on me, but I think that helped me a little bit. So you started there playing for your dad in your local team. At what point did you think, OK, I'm pretty good at this, I could maybe make this into a career? I probably felt it very early, because when we played in the school or on the street, I was always in the team with less players because they said, OK, the other team needs more players to play against me.

2:03I think it was a bit obvious that I was good in playing football. Can you remember first signing for one of those bigger clubs and what that was like? This was at the age of six or seven. And even there, I was choosing between Leverkusen and Köln. Even then? Yes, I was for, how do you say, practice. I was at both clubs. One time there, one time there. And because my parents told me to do that, just to try it, because I was a very shy little boy. I didn't want to go there and meet the new guys or new teams. I just wanted to stay at my old team with my friends. I went to Cologne and they did everything to convince me to join them.

2:59It's better than in just a small club. They have better coaches, better teams. So it was important, I think, that I made this choice to do it. Although I didn't want to do it really. But yeah, and then after nine and a half years, my step to Leverkusen, I think was the other, maybe the most important thing I did. And what a time you had at Leverkusen as well. From such a young age, becoming the Bundesliga's youngest ever scorer, you couldn't really have done much more in your time there, could you? Yeah, the time was incredible. I couldn't even think about this before. I was just thinking maybe I can be a Bundesliga player or something before I joined them.

3:53I met so many great people, good players, good coaches and I break some records, maybe they are broken already again. from the younger generation. But, yeah, to be the best thing was to be champion for the first time in the history of the club, unbeaten. I think this is the biggest achievement what I've made until now. And then Liverpool, the move here in the summer, there was lots of talk over where you were going to end up. But why was this the right place for you in the end? I thought this is the right place to get a better and maybe bigger player because the club is so big. The team won last year the Premier League.

4:52I had very good meetings with with the manager before I joined and also a few players contacted me. Who? For example, Virgil. What did he say? More as well. He sent me also a message. Say, please come. And they were not begging me to come, but just try to give me a feeling about Liverpool and Virgil said he would be happy if I come and maybe I can help the team to get a step even better than they were last year. These are things you like to hear and maybe help you to decide also in the end. I'm still happy that I made this decision. Even when the start wasn't that easy, but I'm still so happy that I decided like this.

5:54What was that like for you? How did you deal with that? Because you came here, everyone was so excited to see you in the Premier League and everyone was talking about you. What was that period like while you did adjust? Of course, I was very excited when I came and wanted it to be an instant success. But it didn't come like this and I just had to stay strong in my mind and keep believing in myself that at one point it has 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 because it's not completely different football it was not easy always to then also have the confidence on the pitch but I think I did I did really good with it and also my people around me helped me and yeah did you talk to anyone anyone in particular help you through it no I'm I'm also not a person who likes to talk a lot about these things.

7:12But with my family, my friends, all of them keep believing in me. The start wasn't easy, but it certainly looks like you've found your rhythm now, particularly the relationships on the pitch with the likes of Hugo Eketike, for example. How are you feeling in yourself and where you're at in terms of getting to your maximum, I suppose? Now I'm feeling much better than, of course, on the start of the season. But, yeah, it's just nice to play with players like Hugo. What's he like? Because we sat down with him before and he seems like a character. Yeah, he's a great guy, a big personality, a good friend already of me.

7:59Yeah, because we know each other already from the Bundesliga. We played a few times against each other. We exchanged our shirts already when he was at Frankfurt. He's a really fantastic player and he even surprised me when I first saw him here, training and playing, because I didn't know he was that good. It's so much fun to play with him because he knows how you move on the pitch, how you link up with each other. And yeah, it's just nice to play with him. What's an ideal day off look like for you? What do you like doing to escape from football? Since the summer, I like to play paddle. Everyone is playing paddle.

8:51Yes. Do you play with the players here? It's really fun. I've never played. I went a few times with some players here. Who plays from Liverpool? Dominic Soberslay. Okay, yeah. Milos, Jeremy says he's good. I've not seen him. Are you any good? I'm not that good now. I get the feeling you're quite humble, actually. No, no, no, really. If you ask the others, I think I'm for sure better than Jeremy, but not... Jeremy's quite a good friend of yours, isn't he? So I feel like you can say that because you've known him quite a while. Yeah, but he knows for sure I'm better than him. What else do you like to do?

9:28Because surely when you've got a day off in football, it's not just paddle. You must want to relax as well. I like to have a nice breakfast because I love breakfast. Do you? Yes. What do you have? Why do you like breakfast so much? Scrambled egg, pancakes. I can eat a lot for breakfast. You go for a nice breakfast. The nutritionist is very happy with me because I eat a lot and fuel for the games. Oh, okay. so you have breakfast paddle anything else maybe just chill you're quite a chill guy maybe play playstation or i have a dog as well do you yes it's dog over here yeah what's he called or is she zuma but it's not uh paw patrol so many no me neither but But everyone is asking me about that.

10:24What's it named after then? Just random. But everyone says to you it's Paw Patrol. I'd never heard of that. Because there's a... You know Paw Patrol? I do, yes. I've got a young daughter, she doesn't watch it. There's a dog called Zuma. That must be quite annoying for you. It's okay. To some people I just say, yeah, it's from there. I wanted to ask what you were like as a youngster. What kind of child was Florian Vert's? My parents always say that I was very shy and always hide behind my sister. Because you were one of nine, is that right? Of ten. Ten? Of ten, yes. So you have nine brothers and sisters?

11:07Yes. What was that like growing up? And I'm the youngest. You're the youngest? Yes. To be honest, it's not that bad because everyone cares about you. You are the youngest. when my parents wanted to go out they could come and yeah look for me and yeah it's just nice to have so many loved ones you know on birthdays Christmas big parties big Christmases yeah and I'm told that you're not the only footballer if your siblings you'll see your sister is as well is that right where does she play? She plays for Werder Bremen, played also first for Brauweiler, Köln, Leverkusen and then Bremen. So we had three times the same club and we played at the same time for three clubs.

12:03What was that like for you? It was nice because sometimes we could even drive together to training and yeah I'm very proud of her she's doing good I'm happy for her that she's now she's she's playing a very good season with her team and yeah should continue like that so you're not in the same club now you're not even in the same country are you still speaking a lot about football were you watching each other's games and kind of helping each other yeah my My sister always wishes me good luck for the games and calls me or texts me. I try always, if I can, to also watch her games. It's just nice.

12:48We have the same ambitions and the same way to think about football. I'm just happy she's also a footballer so we have something in common and it's nice. If you could only achieve one more thing in your career what would it be? World champion. That's an easy question, easy answer isn't it really? World Cup this summer? This summer already. It will be difficult but let's see. I mean we all go there to win it it will be difficult but hopefully we can go far Florian thank you for talking to us and best of luck for the rest of the season thank you

13:395 Live Sports Go to the end zone touchdown NFL touchdown Philadelphia great play design I think you just have to go out there and be the best that you can be we're going to go out there on the line. 12-yard touchdown run. 105 yards on the return. Where speed, power, and skill collide. And the Eagles have beaten the Chiefs convincingly in Super Bowl 59. Five lives for NFL. Listen on BBC Sounds.