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Of course, people are going to criticise when things aren't going well. As players, we have to take on responsibility and prove people wrong.
The way we play at Liverpool is with high-intensity football, pressing high up the pitch, winning the ball back quickly, and counter-pressing.
When you play for Liverpool, there's always pressure, pressure to perform, expectation. Of course, that's the reason why you want to go there.
Whether I'm captain or not, I always like to think that I lead by example anyway. I do the same things as I always do and try to help the group out.
You will get criticised, you will get praised - that's the way football goes. I've learned over a few years now that it can change within an instant.
If you're exercising hard and training hard every day, you've got to have carbs; you can't just cut them out. That's how you get your energy levels up.
There are a lot of players that want to go to the World Cup, so you have to be the player that goes out and performs and shows how much you want to go.
You will get criticism throughout your career. All the best players have had it at some stage, and they haven't let it ruin their careers. I won't, either.
When it comes to football, I think it's vital you always enjoy playing, and when I arrived at Anfield, I was determined to do just that, whatever anyone else said.
Overall strength work - if you can do it regularly - makes a massive difference on the pitch, especially when you are fatigued. If you are stronger, it helps you deal with that.
I don't think you need motivation to win a league or a trophy. It's every footballer's dream. It's why you play football. You enjoy and love the game, but you play to win and be the best.
For breakfast, I'll have scrambled eggs or poached egg on toast... and - this is gonna sound weird - I have it with blueberries as well. Everyone says it's weird, but try it - you'll like it.
Age is not really the biggest factor, whichever end of the scale you are at. It's how you perform, how you respond to the challenge of having good players around you competing for your place.
It is hard to leave your local club. All my family are Sunderland fans, and it is pretty tough because I have had some great years there, but I am looking forward to playing for Liverpool now.
Football always changes. There are always new players coming in at your club or young players coming through with your club or England. You have to be ready, given 100%, improve, and get better.
I'm definitely not a karaoke man, but I like to try stuff, so I'd get up on stage and give it a go. It would have to be something cheesy - karaoke always is - so maybe R. Kelly, 'The World's Greatest.'
You will always be judged as a Liverpool player but, as a captain, you will be judged on what you win, basically. If you're doing well, and the team is winning everything, you become a very good captain.
I'd have to say Steven Gerrard has been the biggest influence in my career so far. I watched him when I was younger and then to go and play and train with him every day is massive for me, and still is now.
There are going to be highs and lows throughout a career, and you have to try and level it out. Don't get too high and carried away when things are going well, but don't get too low when things aren't happening.
Obviously, it was an amazing feeling to play for Liverpool for the first time. It was a little bit funny to be playing against Sunderland, but it is still an amazing feeling every time I put on the Liverpool shirt.
At Liverpool, Jurgen pretty much does everything, and we just follow him. Of course, we've still got leaders within the group to implement his message, but more often than not, we listen and then just do what he says.
You have got to get to know people, and moving down to Liverpool from the North East was a huge change for me. But, at the same time, you have just got to get on with it, and that is part and parcel of being a footballer.
I'm not particularly into people giving me credit. It's not something I think about. It's not important to me. The only thing that's important is if I'm doing my job properly on the pitch for the team and for the manager.
When you are very young and come through at a club, like I did at Sunderland, I suppose people do not expect as much and have not really heard much about you. Whereas, when you sign for a club, the expectations are higher.
When I was very young, coming into the Sunderland side, if we got beaten, I'd be very down. I'd go home, and it would drag on for days, I'd be thinking about the game. I was from Sunderland, felt things like a fan, and got really down.
Now and again, you may be picking a pass or two in behind, making something happen, but when we're attacking - especially at Liverpool - I'm focusing on protection, being disciplined, being careful, worrying about counter-attacks, things like that.
It was Osgood-Schlatters. It wasn't good. It's a growing pains thing, and I had to have a lot of treatment on it. I just shot up immediately and didn't have any kind of physique to deal with it physically. I was tall, all arms and legs, and a bit gangly.
There are different pressures when you come to a club like Liverpool. You have to perform well each week, or people start to question you, and I discovered that as soon as I got here. It was a difficult time, but I hope I got stronger from coping with it.
I was still with Sunderland at the time of my first cap in 2010, and I remember getting the text to let me know that I was going to be called up to the squad - it was a Friday night, and I was in a hotel in London because we were playing Chelsea the next day.
I suppose when people are criticising you and saying that you are not really worthy of going to such a club as Liverpool, it gives you a little bit more drive and more desire to prove them wrong. And that can only help you in the long run: make you a little bit tougher mentally.
I would say I am more comfortable in the centre of midfield. But when you are at a big club like Liverpool, you maybe get played in positions with which you might not be so familiar. But you have got to learn the different roles, because it gives you a better opportunity to play.
I have always wanted to fight no matter what position I am in, and whether that is Liverpool or England, I need to do more, and I need to do better because you have younger players, or players get signed for the club who push you and want to take your place, and you have to be better than them.
A day or two before games, it's all carb overload: pasta, rice, potatoes, stuff like that. And, straight after the game, it's important to get as much carbohydrate on as possible. Refuel your body and get as much back in as you can. As it tails off a day or two later you, ease off on the carbs and go to more protein, vegetables, and salads.