Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

My dad speaks a lot of sense and keeps me grounded. He'll watch me play and, if I've done well, he'll have a quiet word with me and say, 'Well done.' If I've had a not-so-good game, he'll let me know about it.

I am really close to my mum. She always made me do my school and make sure I got all my grades. She is a physiotherapist, which is a massive help to me, so in terms of nutrition, she was the one who made sure I was eating all the right food, and I can only thank her that she kept me fit and healthy.

It's nice when you know the crowd are on your side. I can only repay them by working my hardest when I do get on and trying to impress them.

When you have a good bunch of youthful players, it's good to start them off together earlier rather than later, as they build up friendships.

I think friendship in football is a massive part of the team.

I'd be lying if I said there weren't times when I hadn't lost a little bit of confidence. But the people around me, close to me, were the ones to tell me I'd been playing slightly differently, not as confidently as I had been.

I've grown up playing in central midfield more, and I think my natural game is about coming inside from wide.

Obviously, the big teams create the bigger atmosphere around the stadiums.

I am old enough and wise enough and I have been around long enough to know that things will be said - and not nice things a lot of the time. And when you are doing well, nice things will be said.

In my head, I was like any young kid: 'I'm going to be a footballer.' But at the same time, my mum and dad were making me do my schoolwork, and that was important.

My dad had a soccer school that he used to run, the Mark Chamberlain Soccer Academy, I used to go to that for two years until the age of seven.

It's a mutual respect, especially a player like Neymar, a player of a similar age to me and someone I've got massive respect for what he's done in world football.