In hindsight, that time out of football gives you the hunger to want to get back to basics and play football.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Playing football was like being trapped in a rhythm, and my whole career was like that. You have very little time to switch off.
Once you're a football player, you're a football player for life. You always think of yourself in terms of that. We all do. It's hard to get rid of when you can't play anymore.
A lot of people say you always come back to what you are good at. Football has been 25 years of my life, so maybe I'll come back to it in some sort of way.
In this case, I realize that, unlike when I was 22 years old, I realize now that football will not go on forever, it is a small part of your life.
As long as I feel the love of the game and my health is good, I'm going to play. I don't want to be one of these guys who stays too long or regrets leaving early. Football has been great to me.
I stopped playing football because I'd done as much as I could. I needed something which was going to excite me as much as football had excited me.
From my point of view what I have to do now is appreciate and enjoy what football gave me, but now do something else with the same energy and enthusiasm I gave to football without expecting the same results.
When you are happy and playing regular football, that can make life a lot easier.
I had sacrificed my entire life to play football.
I'm not even thinking about going back to play football at all. My mind's made up. I'm done.