That's something I loved growing up - the other team yelling, hyped, student section, all of that gets me going.

The competitive spirit and the way we worked hard growing up came naturally to me from my family.

My whole family growing up played sports, so I'm definitely from a strong sporting background.

I'm going to get criticized my whole career.

There are things players go through on an everyday basis in the business of football. You don't see it all with the glitz and glamour of game day.

What annoys me most is it is so easy to focus on negatives all the time. All you hear is a lot of people - whether it is industry leaders or politicians - complaining about everything. I don't deny things are not always perfect, but the stage it gets is huge compared with the simple things that make people happy, like winning a football match.

English football is very different, and I had to adapt to it much more than I would have had if I had stayed in the Russian league. But after a season, I felt a lot better, a lot fitter.

In climbing, sponsors typically support an athlete but provide very little direction, giving the climber free rein to follow his or her passion toward whatever is inspiring. It's a wonderful freedom, in many ways similar to that of an artist who simply lives his life and creates whatever moves him.