I had a great time at SV Werder Bremen and I'm grateful to the club.

The more people that write me off, the stronger I get.

Moving abroad brings you on both as a player and a person.

For a national player it is a good thing to get experience playing abroad.

I want to show on the training pitch that I am ready whenever the manager needs me.

You always have to remain professional. I have always done so.

Every footballer has his ups and downs.

Things can change very fast in football.

It is an important part of the role of a centre-back to focus on building up the game and initiating moves.

It is an important duty at Arsenal for the experienced players to show the younger ones that there is a chance to make it into the first team.

Sometimes you need a humbling experience to think about a few things.

There's always that mental battle, who's going to have that confidence to be on the front foot.

When people are acutely depressed, many of them seem to want to hide.

My father said, 'You're not going to make it.' That took a lot of pressure from me. I took football like a hobby.

I wasn't that good at football aged 14 or 15. I didn't take it too seriously.

I loved the Olympics.

The best players in the world play in the Premier League and therefore it is the best league.

It's hard work to do important games for the club every three or four days, that is very physical.

I had a totally different upbringing, totally different background, raised in Germany, small town, now I am in London taking care of 180 kids who think they are the one percent who can make it in professional football.

For almost 15 years, professional football is about yourself: How can I improve? How can I make myself better? Before winning a game was the short-term reward that meant everything. Now, I can look at the bigger picture.

I've played for 15 years and played in five major tournaments. I know what it gives me in terms of the joy, in terms of the love for the game. But I'm done with it.

In Germany I already know everything, I know every stadium.

Living in London is very different to living in a little town in Germany.

I've never had that dream in my head: 'I want to play Bundesliga or Premier League.' I was a fan, but it was never the dream that one day I was going to make it, because a lot of people had told me already that I wouldn't.