Loyalty is a big part of football, and it shows if you are a real man or not.

To be playing against people like Xavi and Iniesta is brilliant.

The aim every season is to challenge for the top four and try to win a trophy.

When you go to the training ground day after day, there's times when you don't want to do it, especially when you see all the boys go out to training.

My perfect formation would be 4-3-3 with one holding and then the two going forward. I would be one of the ones going forward.

Football never stops, and that's why you need a big squad.

I think every manager is the same. Three days before the Premier League starts, every manager is selfish that way. They want the players fit and ready.

To put on an England top is a dream.

If you've lived in England for five years, for me, it doesn't make you English.

You can help build momentum in training by keeping the pace and intensity high. Make things happen in training, and then you can transfer that onto the pitch.

It's every kid's dream to represent their country at a World Cup.

Teams want the best players. If the best players come through your academy, you can play.

I've had a bond with West Ham since growing up as a kid, going to Upton Park, looking up to the players.

It is important to start winning international tournaments early and get that mentality into you. Then, hopefully, you can take it on to the world stage.

When you are injured - and injured for a while - it is hard. You have to go to the training ground and watch everyone go out to play.

Once I'm at the training ground, I'm focused, preparing for the next game.

I'm not really a defensive midfielder.

I haven't eaten junk food since I was 11, but I'm not teetotal: I have a drink maybe once a month.

I prefer playing in a 4-3-3.

The best player I ever played with is probably Cesc Fabregas. I only got to play with him for a year before he went back to Barcelona, but I learned so much from him - the way he knew what he was going to do with the ball before he got it and his passing - and he scored goals.

I'll take criticism. I know that's part and parcel of football. But when it's just reckless and aggressive, I don't listen.

To spend 17 months on the sidelines is tough for anyone, and it's hard to see everyone go out training and then to go and watch games at the Emirates Stadium.

As a player, if your attitude is questioned, it's horrible.

Look at the best dribblers in the world, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta, and the ball seems to stick to their foot, so I can work on that when I am dribbling.

If I went to Spain and lived there for five years, I'm not going to play for Spain. For me an English player should play for England, really.

I have had bad luck with injuries, but I can't keep saying I've been injured a lot.

I know the best way to recover and get the right amount of sleep.

My kids, since birth, have been dairy- and gluten-free.

I know my body well. I know the right foods to eat.

I've always loved representing my country, and it's something I've missed.

I want to go to the World Cup and enjoy it.

Nothing goes through your head when you're playing except who you are playing against and what you can do to affect the game.

If I'm on the bench in a Premier League game, I'm thinking, 'What can I do coming off the bench?'

If you don't believe in yourself, then who is going to believe in you?

With Arsenal, I've been playing out wide, which is not me.

I like to play anywhere in the middle.

Lionel Messi is on a different planet to anyone.

Being injured, coming back, playing a few games, trying to get your fitness back, getting injured again - you don't get a chance to prove what you can do.

Sometimes it's been difficult to stay positive, especially after the injuries that I've had, which have been frustrating.

If you look at the top midfielders in the past for England, like Lampard, Gerrard, and Scholes, they were always on the scoresheet.

Sometimes when people play for their country, I think there is that little bit of fear and pressure.

Sometimes you have to shield, and sometimes you have to press.

I definitely wouldn't go somewhere just because I'm a homegrown player. I'd want to be wanted by a club.

I want to be wanted by Arsenal. I've grown up at Arsenal. I'm a homegrown player, and as long as Arsenal want me, then I'm happy.

It doesn't 'hurt' me, hearing criticism from ex-players. It probably disappoints me a little bit more.

Now I've learned to enjoy my football while I can. Every time I'm on the pitch, I just enjoy it.

I realise things aren't going to go my way every week. Of course they're not. But the main thing is to give your all and enjoy.

I'd say I was an attacking midfielder, and if you are going to be one of the best, you have to score goals and create them.

The only people who should play for England are English people.

I'm not just a footballer; I'm a top athlete, and we have to be at the top of our game.