I was growing up watching Rooney as an England legend and as one of the top players in England in my lifetime.

Coming into a new club, it's always exciting.

Sometimes I was getting bored playing in youth games and in the reserves; I didn't think it was challenging. I always wanted to be challenged and better myself.

Petr Cech has been a top keeper in the Premier League for the last 10-12 years. When you're growing up, you see him making these saves week in, week out. He's probably been the most consistent goalkeeper in these last 10 years in the Premier League, so you can't give him too much criticism.

I did quite a lot of fencing when I was a kid. I was a swimmer, and I played a lot of basketball. I was a fencer for Great Britain, but I only did that because I watched 'Robin Hood,' 'Star Wars,' 'Highlander' and 'The Three Musketeers,' and I wanted to emulate Richard Harris and the great British actors that I grew up watching.

It turns out that life in the kitchen is very similar to life on a team. Sports and kitchens are about teams. I found my alternate team sport in the kitchen.

I don't ever remember wanting to do anything but coach. My dad obviously influenced me. But it wasn't because he sat there and drilled coaching stuff into our heads. We were on the bench keeping the scorebook and traveling with the team on weekends. It was such a great upbringing.

It sounds like a cliche, but without a strong group, you win nothing in football.