Figo was my hero. Then he joined Madrid. Barca fans hated him for that. It was impossible for him to be a hero any more, but now that I'm a professional, I see things differently.

The work is intense. You have to calculate a great deal very quickly which requires football intelligence and real concentration. Part of my role is to shuttle between the defense and the attacking lines to make sure that the ball circulates well and quickly.

A result doesn't determine the planning on the sporting side.

I've always said that I won't be a Barcelona player for 20 years with a secondary role. The moment that I feel my ambition is fading or that I am not able to deliver physically, I will step aside and leave feeling privileged and content of what I gave to the club.

One of my first jobs was at the Boston Globe. I worked in the sports department six months a year. When I was ready to graduate, the sports editor gave me a job as a schoolboy sports writer.

I would say I'm more traditional than I am superstitious. I don't, for example, have to do things ritually before the game in order to feel comfortable going to the game. But I don't think I'm naturally a football player. I don't have that grit and that killer instinct.

I have my way of doing things, because I am that way, I try to raise my voice to motivate team-mates and make them aware that if they lose a ball it is not a problem, so I try to motivate my team-mates and to speak to them and, because I see the game from the back I see everything in front of me; communication on the field can help a lot.

When I was seven we moved to Orpington, and in my new school, I was kept in for extra lessons to learn 'joined-up' writing instead of playing football. I still think that my poor handwriting and lack of soccer skills date from that period.