Florian Wirtz gets emotional after being told what to do as Liverpool struggles continue

Florian Wirtz has admitted he felt emotional after being showered with supportive messages from his loved one during a tough period in his Liverpool career.

The German midfielder is still searching for his first goal or assist in the Premier League and has faced criticism in certain sections for his displays as Arne Slot's revamped squad continues to take its time to gel.

Despite the reigning Premier League champions not hitting peak form, they went into the final fixtures before the October international break sitting pretty at the summit. Yet they've also endured come in for greater criticism in the past week following consecutive losses to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray.

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The Reds will be desperate to get back to winning ways when they travel to Chelsea on Saturday evening.

Ahead of that clash, unveiled a touching feature interview with Wirtz as the German watched clips celebrating his journey so far, including contributions from both of his parents.

The segment concluded with heart-warming personal messages directed at Wirtz from all those who took part.

After viewing the tributes, the midfielder confessed he felt emotional.

"It's special and will always be special when you hear so many great things about yourself from people who you admire and respect so much and share so many good moments with them," he said.

"It's good to hear. You feel directly that your heart is working, it's nice to hear. Yeah, (I felt emotional). Especially in the end for the personal messages.

"It was really nice and I was surprised who made it into the video. But all of them have to be there because these are all people who I shared a lot of great memories with.

"These are people who I will never forget so I'm really grateful."

Wirtz's mum, Karin, expressed her hopes regarding his efforts to master English, whilst his dad, Hans, confessed he wants his lad to build strong bonds with everyone at Liverpool.

"I know it's sometimes difficult for him to understand the English language at the speed it's spoken," Karin said. "So my wish for him is that he soon understands everyone he speaks to well and always has the appropriate answer ready."

Meanwhile, Hans said: "I can only wish and hope that he works well there, tries hard to learn a lot, and further strengthens the joy among the people there and has a good dialogue with team-mates, the people and the fans in Liverpool."

Wirtz's oldest childhood mate, Ole Verhall, also featured in the segment and shared his pride in the German in a heartfelt message.

"I'm really, really proud of you. I hope you know that," he said. "I miss you and I'm really excited to see you again in maybe a few weeks. See you, bro."

Additionally, Wirtz's coach from his school side and one of his FC Koln youth coaches both offered their best wishes at Liverpool.

"Florian, I wish you all the best in Liverpool," his former school coach, Roland Schweikardt, said. "I am very sure you will make a great job there. I watch every game. Do the best!".

Another of his former FC Koln youth coaches, Markus Daun, also backed the German to flourish at Anfield as he said: "I want to give you big hugs to Liverpool. I wish you the maximum of success in your career in Liverpool.

"I will be there, hopefully in the next few weeks. The boss always remains the same, you know that. Take care and regards to everyone."

Martin Heck, another of his FC Koln youth coaches, also sent an inspirational message to Wirtz.

"Please stay healthy, stay as you are," Heck encouraged. "You're doing a great job and keep your smiling and your cheeky way on the pitch and no-one can stop you!".

Simon Rolfes, Bayer Leverkusen's managing director of sport, echoed these sentiments after selling Wirtz to Liverpool in a £116m deal this summer.

"Florian, stay as you are, with this joy to play football every day, with this hunger to win, this hunger to work hard as well and play how you express yourself on the pitch," he advised. "That's a great joy for everybody."

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