My new tattoo is Jesus being carried by three cherubs. Obviously the cherubs are my boys. At some point they are going to need to look after me. That’s what they’re doing in the picture. It means a lot.
It’s not easy when someone pulls your ponytail.
I feel I can still do the same job as I did 10 years ago – I’ve just got a few more wrinkles!
I would walk back from the United States to play for England again.
I didn’t expect it to come so quickly. It’s been hard to keep up with. There’s been articles in the papers that say I’ve got too big for my boots but people who know me say I’m just the same. Things have changed in my life but I haven’t, too many people would knock me down if I did.
I hope I become a better player day after day. This is one of my goals. I want to improve in every situation, but when you are playing along with top figures, it is a quality bonus and a bigger effort. Besides, the Spanish Liga also gives you the chance to progress and improve.
Maths is totally done differently to what I was teached when I was at school.
I’m happy in Madrid, my kids are happy and my wife is happy, so everything’s good. If anyone knows about contracts they take a while to sort out.
I think the most important goal I scored in Spain was the first one because people were wary about me coming over to Spain as a player – they thought I was just there to sell shirts.
It’s is always nice to be respected as a footballer. I am going to go out and enjoy the game and if I can set one or two goals up then so be it – I would love to.
I showed that I wasn’t just at Real Madrid to sell shirts.
I’ve always come back from adversity, and I’ve always had the mentality of proving people wrong.
I’ve got friends in the different teams I’ve played for, but family is the most important thing to me. That will always be the case.
Coaching is not something I’m passionate about. I’m passionate about coaching kids.
As soon as I hit the ball, I know if it’s in.
I know that I will always regret it later in life if I had turned down the chance to play at another great club like Real Madrid.
You know when you play in the big away games that the fans are going to be behind their team and will be booing you. As a professional you need to tune yourself out of that part of the game and concentrate on the job at hand.
I don’t think I have reached a plateau. I have just reached the level where I am today. But I need to go above it.
I love football and I love winning, and when things aren’t going right I get annoyed.
The criticism hurts sometimes and I worry about the effect on my family.