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One of my brothers, Serge, was at a couple of professional clubs on trial, including Palace when they had Ashley Cole on loan. He was a winger, though left-footed, and I learned a lot of my skills from him.
Now I want to play with the Ivory Coast. It has been rewarding, firstly because I am proud to play for my country, then because the Ivorian selection has quality players and has always been a reservoir of talent.
There is nothing worse than not being involved. You are sitting there thinking, 'What exactly am I? A footballer who is not playing football?' You feel a bit worthless sitting in the stands, watching all the time.
At the pace I'm running, trying to get the ball, the slightest touch could trip me over. You don't have to literally push me over. That's what people don't understand. But unless you're able to run that fast, you'll never understand.
I prefer playing up front, really, because I feel like if I make the right run, or if I get the ball at the right time, I can just be one-on-one with the defender, and then if I manage to get past the centre-back, it's one-on-one with the 'keeper.
The thing was, if I had a bad game, I was 'the Man United reject.' If I had a good game, it was 'Man United star on loan.' And I just thought, 'I don't need that anymore.' One minute, I was hero; the next minute, I was zero. I just didn't need it. I'd rather just play football.
The Ivory Coast had been begging for ages. The country and the fans love me already, and I haven't even done anything. I may not get the red carpet - it may not have the same Nike deals as when you play for England - but I'm going to be playing, I'm going to be loved, and that's all I want. Nothing else.
Fans give me abuse all the time. Nearly every team does that. If I wasn't a good player, you wouldn't feel like you need to boo me the whole game. So do that if it makes you feel better, but it does spur me on. It's like, 'You expect something from me; that's why you're doing this,' so I don't mind it. They can boo me all day long, really.