In the last year my wife has noticed me struggling to get downstairs on a Sunday morning. I've two young children and football has been so good to me over the years I don't want to spoil it.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I always have a football handy at home, and I'll play with it. Sometimes it'll get on my wife's nerves. But the moment I've got a ball at my feet, I'm happy.
In the summer, you miss the match days, but my wife gets angry, as she doesn't see me on weekends. And football is work. I'm still working on the weekends.
By the time the children go to bed, I am as drained as any mother who has spent her day working, car pooling, building Lego castles and shopping for the precisely correct soccer cleat.
When I'm in town on Sundays, I sometimes go down to the Central Bar in the East Village to watch English football. But my natural inclination now is to get in the car with my wife and kids and get out of town.
I've been accused of being a bit too keen on my football, not least by my three ex-wives.
The majority of the time I'm at home with my family, I play football three times a week.
Whenever I get days off, I go home, or friends and family come up. I'm in contact with them every day, so it's like we live next door, but obviously we live in two different countries. Football is my job, and everyone around me has given me the opportunity to purely concentrate on football, and everyone else worries about everything else.
When I was living on my own, for a footballer it's easy to do the things that you're not supposed to, or not what the sport science team says. For example, if there's a packet of crisps, you're going to eat them. The same with a packet of sweets. Go to bed at a certain time? You're not going to if you're on your own.
I like bringing the girls on set, but if I can't do that then the next day I feel I have to be uber-mum to make up for it. Then I'm exhausted and feel like I'm running in fumes.
I have no problem putting my feet up and watching football but my mother-in-law is always doing stuff.