When you take a lot of stick you want to ram it down people's throats.

I didn't want to be the rebel who was bottom of the class, so I worked hard. They wanted me to stay on for A-Levels, but football came calling - that was my real love.

Of course it is going to be difficult for any player to get in the Chelsea side no matter who they are.

Even with the quality of players that we have, they're an extremely hard side to break down and once they get on top of you, you find it difficult to stem the flow of attacks.

I don't know if we'd have been as dominant as we were last season. The new things, the new ideas the manager brought in everyone took them on board so well. He is special.

In terms of not retiring? I don't want to leave and think to myself, "Maybe I should have stayed a bit longer". I'm dwelling on it. I have turned down a few Premier League offers. But the fact is, after being at Chelsea for so long and a year with Manchester City, I don't want to get involved in a relegation dogfight.

I don't think Wayne Rooney would be affected if you booed him, that's just how he is, but others go under. They really suffer with it. I think I'm somewhere in the middle... now. I've become tougher as I've got older.