Having grown up watching Barcelona, Elen gets a bit annoyed watching me if I don't do flicks and tricks like Ronaldinho. I have to explain you can't do that all the time in a game!

I'm not the kind of player to see out my time and sit with my bum on the bench too much. I want to be involved. That's my character.

I like to go to America. That's where I go for most of my holidays.

Nobody expects a footballer to have any kind of an IQ, which is a bit of an unfair stereotype.

Of course, there will be few people who are sympathetic but you don't become a great team overnight, no matter how much money you have at your disposal.

I never relax on the year before. Every year I want to get more out of myself so I use it as a driving force, rather than a pressure thing.

I remember being in West Ham's youth team and seeing Jody Morris play for Chelsea at 17 and you scoring for Liverpool on your debut when you were 18. I was watching it on Soccer Saturday and I was like, "I can't believe he's scored!" It's professional jealousy. It's best to be honest about it. It gave me real desire. I was thinking "God I want that to be me".