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During the Sir Alex Ferguson years, you would see all those great players - Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo, to name just a few - and you'd quickly realise why Old Trafford had an aura like nowhere else.
Celebrity culture, it's everywhere, isn't it? It's reality TV, Big Brother. I didn't become a footballer to be famous, I became a footballer to be successful. I didn't want to be famous. Now people want to be famous. Why? Why would you want people following you about all day?
When I read about how 200 people died on a polar expedition, I wonder why they didn't get to know the Inuit people who were around and presumably know something about surviving in the Arctic after living there for thousands of years. Talking to people is a survival mechanism.
I'll admit, right away, that I am disappointed that we did not have a major trophy to show for our efforts. We were in four and we had a good side, but when you count second place as failure, then standards are becoming fantastically high. We never celebrate second place here.
I always wanted to be a winner, to score goals. There was no massive bravery in terms of my mum passing away and stepping up. I just wanted to score. I know everyone would have given me a pass on it if I hadn't taken it. But I'd have had the hump with myself if I'd shirked it.
I'm just trying to do whatever is asked of me. I've been thrown into many different positions. Sometimes I'm on the left. Sometimes I'm in the middle. Sometimes I'm up top. So you always have to be prepared. I'm learning a lot so hopefully I can keep getting better and better.
In 10 years' time I still want to be at Arsenal, winning trophies for my club and for the national team as well. I've been there since I was nine or 10. It feels like I've always been there, the club's been great to me and I feel I owe them that to be there and to stay around.
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 had to tell Dad, 'It will be okay and be positive; keep praying and have faith'. I have always known about cancer, but to be around someone who has it and to see what it does in such a short space of time was hard. It makes you think about your life, about what is important.
The World Cup only comes around once every four years and is the absolute pinnacle of our sport. It is something we dream about as players. It is a reason why many of us started playing this game. I know myself, my teammates will be focused on what's ahead and what's at stake.
There are not many athletes who are out. And I think it's something that's important. It felt important to me. I guess it seems like a weight off my shoulders, because I've been playing a lot better than I've ever played before. I think I'm just enjoying myself, and I'm happy.
While the World Cup is great every four years, I think people struggle to get themselves excited about qualifiers against the smaller nations. It will take some good performances from the national team to get the feel-good factor back, as far as the England team goes at least.
I'd love to go and I'd love to play for my country and go to a World Cup again. I've got to accept I'm not in the current squad and just think, 'If I get it, it's a bonus and I'll give it everything.' But it's hard to do when you've been thinking a different way all your life.
I used to fast during Ramadan because I admired the people fasting around me. What made me convert was that I had that certainty that Islam was for me. I felt this relationship with God, and that enlightened my life. I had that conviction in my heart that that was my religion.
I had the chance to play for a lot of different teams in the Premier League, but I think all the choices I made were the right ones. I could name a lot - with Gremio, PSG, Barcelona, Milan, Flemengo Mineiro. I was lucky enough to score a few goals, and they were all beautiful.
He [Jock Stein] phoned and asked me to come over and see him one night Hibs were playing at home to Aberdeen. You know Im coming as manager, he said, and I know youll be disappointed. But I want to reciprocate for you making me your deputy by asking you to become my assistant.
I hope I become a better player day after day. This is one of my goals. I want to improve in every situation, but when you are playing along with top figures, it is a quality bonus and a bigger effort. Besides, the Spanish Liga also gives you the chance to progress and improve.
I was captain in Atletico at 19, playing in the same team as Demetrio Albertini, who won three Champions Leagues, and Sergi Barjuan from Barcelona, who had won everything, and they were 32, 33. I was a kid as captain, so I wasn't the real captain, just a kid learning from them.
It's frustrating at times when you think you've earned a chance to play on the field and you're over there sitting on the bench. That's not the kind of player I am. I'm the kind of player who wants to be out there on the field and needs to contribute every minute of every game.
After the World Cup, it was so intense, and a lot of pressure was put on me - unfairly, I thought, at times - and it is always a worry, but you get older, you get a better support team, and I haven't hidden the fact about my past, and I never will because I'm not ashamed of it.
When people say 'American soccer,' they think of the U.S. national team. But American soccer also includes Major League Soccer, and until we have a league that produces players at the rate other leagues around the world do, I don't believe we'll ever get to where we want to be.
Of course Lothar Matthaus is always going to be associated with the 1990 World Cup. But does everyone immediately remember what titles Gunter Netzer, Johan Cruyff or Luis Figo won? Or do they also think about how those players played their football and how they led their teams?
You learn to understand it, but if you step back, you do think it is either strange or unfair. But I know that if you don't score, play well or win, you are wrong to have a helicopter and fly home each week to see your kids. You are wrong to have a business outside of football.
I'm very aware that you lead a very peculiar existence as a professional footballer, being flown everywhere first-class and never having to queue up for anything. Of course, that's attractive, but if you're not careful, you end up living in a world where nothing is really real.
The fact that an Englishman has an Argentinian as an idol is very rare. I keep watching my [title-winning] goal against QPR and every time I get more emotional. My plan is to stay here because I'm convinced Manchester City will be at the same level as Real Madrid and Barcelona.
I love football. I love my profession. What I don't like is cases where owners prioritise their interests over the club's. Football can't be solely about profit. Look, no one's stupid: no one wants to lose money but nor should it be about people getting rich off people's dreams.
My first memory of Umbro was when I refused to take off my orange and purple Umbro checkerboard shorts for church at five years old. I won that battle, and that drive to express myself and stay true to myself, even as a kid, is why I'm so excited about my partnership with Umbro.
The league is interesting because it's evident everyone can beat everyone. And sometimes things happen you just don't understand. This might be referee decisions or the running paths or passes of a teammate. It's different than in Europe, but you have to take things as they are.
When I represent my country on the field, I do so with heartfelt gratitude to the people who fight for and defend our fundamental freedoms - to believe in whatever I want, to love whoever I want, and to be a valued member of society while doing so. That's the America I play for.
I usually eat a salad for lunch and before a game since it keeps me feeling healthy and energized on the field. I love piling on the toppings: the more colorful the better! I usually do nuts, fruit and avocado, but I also mix up my creations with different toppings and lettuces.
I eat a huge breakfast every morning - it's what I look forward to. I'll do steel-cut oatmeal with blueberries and strawberries, an egg white scramble with mushrooms, zucchini, and onion, and a piece of cinnamon Ezekiel bread with almond butter. I could do that every single day.
People say you should go out at the top but I was enjoying my football so much. Robbie Fowler's exactly the same: he's not playing for money any more, he's playing for enjoyment. Why go out at the top if it's going to make you miserable? I just wanted to play as long as I could.
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've always really just liked football, and I've always devoted a lot of time to it. When I was a kid, my friends would call me to go out with them, but I would stay home because I had practice the next day. I like going out, but you have to know when you can and when you can't.
Many great teams have players who have come through the youth system or have been at the club for a long time as their captains. I'm thinking of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, John Terry at Chelsea, Raul at Real Madrid, as well as Puyol at Barcelona and Gary Neville at Man United.
Sir Alex Ferguson was a genuinely nice man. We met many times and even had dinner together on a few occasions. But woe to the person who threatened or bothered Manchester United in any way. Then Ferguson would not spare his venom. I know, because he often aimed that venom at me.
I don't really have many regrets. I did miss a lot of the events in the days leading up to my sister's wedding because I was at a U17 camp. There were moments like that growing up when I felt like I focused too much on soccer. But that's probably the reason I am where I am today.
I like to be able to control which players I'm working with. Because it doesn't matter how good a coach you are if the guys you're working with think they already know it all. You need a response, you need to feel they're trying. I want players who are always striving to improve.
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.
We have demonstrated that we are the best, I'm also happy because everyone seems to enjoy our football, whether or not they are Barca fans. All over the world, I've heard people saying that they have been enchanted by us. This type of football deserves to be rewarded with titles.
I feel like it's actually everybody's responsibility to use whatever platform they have to do good in the world, basically, and to try to make our society better, whether you're an accountant or an activist or an athlete or whatever it is. I think it's everybody's responsibility.
The difference with football is you're out on the pitch, you feel as though you can do something about it, or score a goal. But when that horse goes down to post as an owner you have no involvement whatsoever. It's a lonely old place in the stand. It's just down to man and beast.
At this level almost everyone has the physical tools to be the best. It comes down to a few things: how bad you want it, what you do when things get hard, and whether you are able to stay focused amid turmoil, challenge, chaos and demands. It's all in your head and in your heart.
I thought I was prepared for England but I was not prepared for things outside football, my private life. I am not very proud that fans could probably name three of my former girlfriends. I don't think it damaged my football results. But my image outside football it damaged, yes.
Forever, it was just soccer - passion, life, love. Then I got married, and I had to transfer some of my energy. I want to be my best for my country, but I also made a really big promise and choice to be the best in my marriage. That has not always been the easiest thing to manage.
I really started to enjoy Instagram more recently because it's something that shows people what I'm doing and what I'm going through, but it's so simple. I don't have to come up with something witty; it's just a funny photo, and you can be as artistic or as plain Jane as you want.
I feel fortunate to be a part of a football community that includes leaders who recognize the power of sport to make a difference and who, like so many of my coaches, are defined not only by their knowledge but by their ability to bring out the best in every member of their teams.
So many people want to live their lives and their dreams through their own Facebook page or their Twitter page. They want to show every detail of their life to everyone in the world. That scares me because I don't have any Facebook page or Twitter I don't like it, I don't want it.
For me, Paul Scholes is on the same level as Ronaldo. The real Ronaldo, not Cristiano. I always thought he was a great player but after I played alongside him I realised he was Manchester United's greatest player of all time. He did his talking on the pitch which I respected most.
For a kid that just played for Oviedo, to then going to play for a team like Real Madrid, it felt fantastic. But being taken out of my family home and moving away alone, into the residence Madrid have for young players, it was a bit difficult. But as time passed, I got used to it.