Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I was always confident that if someone took the chance to play me week in and week out that I would fulfil my potential.
It's tough to be left out. At Chelsea I've probably played 90 per cent of the time. It's not something I handle very well.
As a defence, we have to strive for that clean sheet while also giving the attacking players the licence to go and create.
I came to Chelsea and it was 'oh you can't play Champions League, you can't do this, you can't do that' and I proved them wrong.
Martin O'Neill let me go and he obviously felt that was the right thing at the time. But you go on and want to prove people wrong.
I've enjoyed success and I feel like I've been a big part of success - not just involved in winning trophies but involved heavily.
The way that I prepare, the way that I play, the way that I like to speak to the lads or manage situations is the way that I do things.
It's always difficult not playing games and that match fitness and sharpness is something you always lack when you don't get that opportunity.
When you think of Bolton you think of the likes of Kevin Davies. He is a captain who leads by example and his qualities got him an England cap.
I went to the World Cup and didn't play, but I came back with an even higher opinion of Gareth Southgate. It's all about how you treat somebody.
The majority of Chelsea fans have been unbelievable, but there is maybe five per cent always thinking, 'Get the next best thing in.' I feel that.
You're not a robot, you're not going to be nine out of 10 every game. But when things aren't going well, you work even harder and look for a reaction.
Where you have a little setback or you are out of the team you're considered a different player but you know you will come out of the other side of it.
We won the Europa League in 2013 and it was an amazing night, an amazing feeling. I take those memories and think to myself, 'I want to do that again.'
When a top club comes calling, who you know will be firing on all fronts with competitions and medals, that's ultimately what you want to be playing for.
Not every single minute of your career will go well, individually and collectively, and not every season will go how you want it to, but it's how you react to that.
Playing at a club like Chelsea and being given the opportunity to play with the world-class players that we have means you can learn from them and improve your game.
That's what I want to do, to go out and perform back to the levels I know I'm capable of, the levels you can produce with consistent games and to win football matches.
I realise that sometimes things go well and sometimes they don't. But it is very important for me I feel personally, even selfishly, the need to be playing football matches.
Players at the highest level have got high football intelligence, so they can adapt, but at the same time you need a structure and an idea of how you've got to play that system.
Sometimes when you're at a club like Chelsea you feel sorry when you see a player move on, because naturally some progress and some don't. You don't hear about the ones that don't.
We all know it's hard to have time to come in as a young player - maybe the club and the supporters give you seven, eight, nine games where you're rusty and not performing. It's difficult to do that.
When things are going well, everyone's coming into training, having a lot of banter and joking about and enjoying things, and when you are not, it's not that feeling, because the expectation level is to win.
I always think the same: English players don't generally leave England, which is strange. But of course, the Premier League's got the reputation as one of best leagues going, and one of the most competitive leagues.
I have been hugely proud in terms of what I have achieved, in terms of over 60 caps, and I have captained my country on a few occasions which has been a huge honour and something I have been really proud of in my career.
You can go anywhere in the Premier League and it's going to be tough. Every single game is so tough. So I think if you make it, and you're lucky enough to play in the Premier League, I don't think there's a need to go anywhere.
When I first came to Chelsea, I realised there is an expectation on everybody here and history proved that this club wins trophies. I wanted to be a part of that. Thankfully, I've worked hard, got in the team and I've played my part.
It's easy to play football when everything is going well and you are winning games back to back, winning, winning, it's the best feeling ever, you can go out there and express yourself you feel like you are not going to make mistakes.
When Chelsea came calling for me, it was an opportunity, it was a chance and looking from the outset you may not be sure how it's going to go. But it's one you can't turn down, you have to grab it with both hands. Then you have to work as hard as you can to make it work.
Paul Gascoigne was one who I watched as a young boy. He was a hero to all of us really. Chris Waddle was one for me too, just because of where I grew up. Where I'm from, he was somebody who was representing England and playing in the Premier League, and as a young boy I always wanted to do both.