In certain situations, players should protect themselves by not losing track of the most important things in their job.

Being in a career and going from highlight to highlight and playing a lot of matches you go through it and think it's normal when you play in front of 60,000 and you almost want to vomit in front of every game.

The heritage of Arsenal, to believe in our academy and to really promote our academy. That's important and that's why I am here as well. I wouldn't waste my time just to know that we are not having successes here at Arsenal.

If Messi has the ball, he is fantastic to watch and difficult to stop. You have to double up on him, triple up on him even, stay with him constantly to block his way to the goal.

Never tackle, never go down, we've heard it over and over again. You have to try to keep Messi away from the goal and block him with multiple players while being as close to him as possible. He is too quick, too fast, too intense with the ball.

I was fortunate to play under Thomas Schaaf at Bremen. And I played for Arsene Wenger. So I always felt, let's say, more responsible than others towards the manager and his succession.

Arsene Wenger was always the kind of manager whose belief in his team's qualities was steady as a rock and who approached matters with never-ending patience.

The first time in my career I thought it makes no sense anymore, that I'll retire.

You know what you have achieved and what you have been through.

When you step up as a young talent, you need to challenge the old lads.

You never stop working, you never stop doing things because there's someone behind you - in a respectful way - who is giving absolutely everything in every single training session.

Even when you are experienced, sometimes mistakes happen.

The interaction between the goalkeeper and the back four has to be top to compete in the Premier League.

If you just protect and you have no chances on the break and you miss one chance to kill the game, then it's difficult in the Premier League to win any game.

I never heard anything about 'potatoes' or 'kanaken' during my time in the national team. However I have been called 'potato,' too.

Football has taught me so much.

The amount of staff we have in academies is... I've never seen anything like it. It's good to take care of the players but sometimes I get confused by the number of people who have an impact on one kid - we're talking 100 people or more. It's quite a heavy load.

When I was young and visited England with my auntie, as somebody who was football crazy, I simply had to come back with a shirt. I can't remember why, but I came back with an Arsenal shirt and my brother had a Manchester United one.

The first Premier League season is always tough for anyone.

Suarez is like a cheeky boy, he looks like a cheeky boy who can really switch on and off how he wants to be, so that is really something. When he is on the pitch, what is going on around him doesn't bother him.

After you have won a game, you can maybe smile for a minute and then you have to think: 'How can I recover as quickly as possible.'

We have to present ourselves as a unit, no matter what happens. That is what Arsenal stands for.

You spend some time with kids, you always take something with you.

There are so many people around young kids nowadays it can make it very tough and difficult - people who think they are going to care for those kids but do the opposite.

Youngsters need self-esteem, simple targets in life which give energy. In the academy they can be so easily distracted by so many other things it's amazing.

There are still so many issues around young players, and we need to find the right way for them. What is really important? What does he need for his self-belief? For his development?

Even at the age of 33 I was one of the most flexible at Arsenal when it came to my back muscles.

I invested a lot in my fitness.

We have all the money in the world but do not realise how important the body is. A player on average has a seven year professional career, 10-15 if everything goes right. You have to do everything possible to be at your maximum.

That's why I kept going with my school - I wasn't talented. That's what's the difficulty - you want to define key talents when they are 12, 13 or 14? When I was that age I was nowhere near. People had given up on me.

I can't even count to five when I say my proper friends in football.

That's what I love, getting the tube, not getting any recognition, trying to be as normal as possible. Sometimes you get a big Arsenal fan and they tell you they have a season ticket or want to have a chat, which is fine. Some want a selfie, but sometimes I just want to say: 'Let's just shake hands. It means more than a picture.'

I don't see myself coaching because the intensity of that is massive, and the intensity as a manager, for example Arsene Wenger, is even more.

I was lucky to get a professional contract. I wasn't that sort of talent that is considered to be a professional player.

I've never had that dream in my head: 'I want to play Bundesliga or Premier League.' I was a fan, but it was never the dream that one day I was going to make it, because a lot of people had told me already that I wouldn't.

Living in London is very different to living in a little town in Germany.

In Germany I already know everything, I know every stadium.

I've played for 15 years and played in five major tournaments. I know what it gives me in terms of the joy, in terms of the love for the game. But I'm done with it.

For almost 15 years, professional football is about yourself: How can I improve? How can I make myself better? Before winning a game was the short-term reward that meant everything. Now, I can look at the bigger picture.

I had a totally different upbringing, totally different background, raised in Germany, small town, now I am in London taking care of 180 kids who think they are the one percent who can make it in professional football.

It's hard work to do important games for the club every three or four days, that is very physical.

The best players in the world play in the Premier League and therefore it is the best league.

I loved the Olympics.

I wasn't that good at football aged 14 or 15. I didn't take it too seriously.

My father said, 'You're not going to make it.' That took a lot of pressure from me. I took football like a hobby.

When people are acutely depressed, many of them seem to want to hide.

There's always that mental battle, who's going to have that confidence to be on the front foot.

Sometimes you need a humbling experience to think about a few things.

It is an important duty at Arsenal for the experienced players to show the younger ones that there is a chance to make it into the first team.

It is an important part of the role of a centre-back to focus on building up the game and initiating moves.