Exclusive interview with Erik Meijer about his move to Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen and why Florian Wirtz won't suffer the same struggles
Erik Meijer sky expert looks on during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and 1. FSV Mainz 05 at Signal Iduna Park and Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz during a match against Liverpool at Anfield
Erik Meijer sky expert looks on during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and 1. FSV Mainz 05 at Signal Iduna Park and Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz during a match against Liverpool at Anfield
(Image: Getty Images)
Erik Meijer is confident that both Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong can succeed where he failed at Liverpool. The Reds remain in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a club-record deal for the Germany international.
Meanwhile, the Dutchman joined last month from the Bundesliga outfit at Liverpool activated a £29.5m release clause in his contract. One-time Netherlands international Meijer was the first player to represent both the Reds and Leverkusen, moving to Anfield on a free transfer from the German side in the summer of 1999.
But the now 55-year-old, who is these days a Bundesliga pundit, ultimately only spent a season and a half with Liverpool, scoring twice from 27 appearances, before returning to Germany on a permanent basis with Hamburg.
READ MORE: Florian Wirtz is perfect for Liverpool - but Arne Slot has to sign one player alongside himREAD MORE: Jeremie Frimpong hands Arne Slot big bonus - He's in my Liverpool team from day one but has to show up
Looking back, Meijer can admit he was not quite good enough to play for the Reds or in the Premier League. But that did not stop himself from beating himself up at the time as he struggled to prove himself under Gerard Houllier.
“If you don't try, you don´t know, so I would always say try it,” Meijer said in an exclusive interview with the ECHO when asked if he had any advice for Wirtz and Frimpong. “Because when you are 55 you cannot play anymore.
“If you are 100% confident to go over, go to England. My main things that I found out is that the tempo is much higher, there is more pressure, you have better opponents who are on a higher level.
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“In the Bundesliga you have four or five teams who are a certain level. In the Premier League, everybody is a high level. So they are some big steps up.
“But the good thing is you also have very good players around yourself who make you better and that's something that you have to step up.
“You have to make the step to the next level and other players or the coach will help you with that and if it works, everybody's happy and you get titles.
“And if it doesn't work, like for me, then you have to make a step back. Then you are not good enough for the Premier League.
“You have to show yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Okay, I tried, but I was not good enough’.
“It's not a problem. I'm now 55. I just talk about it like it's normal. But in that time, I was also struggling.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘Why? Why didn't I make the last step? Why didn’t I score the first goals in the first couple of matches?’
“But that is something that every striker will think about. If you score, you get confidence, your players around you will give you the balls. And that's the way it works.
“But it's also professional football. I know the rules and I know how it works.
“Then you have to take a step back and go to a league that you know and where the level is a little bit lower and then you feel happy again, then the happy Erik is back.
"But Wirtz won't have that problem. He will fit in directly, really! Don’t worry! In my opinion, he will be a diamond in the Premier League.
"And Frimpong knows England. He knows the culture over there, he knows what people expect from him. He's coming home. He speaks perfect English.
“I think he's in it (the team) from day one. His parents are Liverpool fans. That's already something special.
“You want to make your parents happy. I tried that also when I was at Liverpool!”
Meijer is a boyhood Liverpool fan, having grown up idolising Ian Rush. When his Leverkusen contract was expiring in 1999, he had options to stay in Germany.
But as soon as the Reds made their interest known, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“I already signed very early (with Liverpool), it was around the winter break,” he recalled. “I was on a free, we played UEFA Cup and the Champions League in those years at Leverkusen.
“But to be on a free, that gives you possibilities and in that time the contracts were not that way that everybody was thinking, ‘Oh he still has a year to go on his contract, we have to make a new one.’ Nowadays the managers are more alert on these things.
“But suddenly I was without a contract anymore and I was on a free and I was playing well and then clubs were interested, that's the way it goes.
“I had to make a choice between signing up for another four years at Bayer Leverkusen, make a swap to Dortmund or Liverpool.
“Because, since a kid, I’m a Liverpool fan, there was no discussion. I would go to Liverpool and see how good I am and try to make it there.
“It was for me a big honour, as a Liverpool fan, to play for my club. In our butcher shop we watched a lot of Liverpool and my main man was Ian Rush in the front.
“I wanted to be like him, unfortunately I didn't make it like he did!”
Meijer was back at Anfield last November to watch Liverpool host Leverkusen in the Champions League as a Luis Diaz hat-trick helped Arne Slot’s side to a 4-0 victory over a team including both Wirtz and Frimpong.
The Dutchman always enjoys returning to his former club, and is already looking forward to his next visit next season.
“I'm always happy to go back to Liverpool,” he said. “I was at the Liverpool-Leverkusen match.
“I really enjoyed it, you know, the ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ song. But not only that, but being between the people and having a decent beer and just the atmosphere and the ‘new’ stadium the way it was.
‘It was the first time that I was in a stadium with the new stands. I really, I really liked it.
“I really like to be back once or twice a year and then go as a fan, just buy a ticket, sit down and enjoy some lovely football.”