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Early in my career, I struggled with consistency, but I couldn't get more consistent than this year.

I made a better decision in choosing my team. Sure, I had a bigger choice of players to choose from - but I couldn't have asked for a harder working group of players who did an incredible job.

We were going to have to experiment, and we needed to develop our younger players. And a lot of the changes were because of injuries. But that's where I give a lot of credit to the group in terms of being able to maintain things.

I'm not saying I didn't have ample time to recover, ample time to get to my best, I felt this year I did fine. When I stepped on the field for the national team, I was ready and able to make an impact, to score goals, to create chances.

Most players in this league say they want consistency.

I got even with all the bad management I had by being a good manager.

What I liked was to set the tone - set the pace for the team. I know when we're starting the game, I can get on and steal a base, then a guy bring me in. Then we're in the lead and in a good position to win. That was the most exciting thing - to help the team.

I mean, coming into this season I was just hoping to come back, stay healthy and help the team.

If you have any setback in your life, like not being in the England squad was for me - any setback, like losing a family member - everyone handles it in different ways. When I first wasn't included I was numb. I'd been the main England striker for years and years. It was really disappointing.

Everybody I talked to - from my friends to my family and some of the players - really gave me a lot of support from the start. And that certainly made me feel good about trying to come back and be one of the best again.